Hide the Truth Inside
by Storm Elf
Summary: Nick struggles with his feelings for one of his coworkers as a case hits far too close for comfort. With Greg as the prime suspect in a murder, Nick must decide where his loyaties lay. Nick/Greg, set sometime before Grissom left.
1. Chapter 1

Hide the Truth Inside- Nick struggles with his feelings for one of his coworkers as a case hits far too close to home. Nick/Greg

Note: This is set sometime before Grissom leaving. I started writting this story before he ran away to plan world domination with Sara in Costa Rica.

* * *

Nick ducked under the yellow crime scene tape without a second thought. He had gotten the call maybe ten minutes ago, a 419 in an apartment just inside their jurisdiction. Grissom had told him that he would be working with Catherine. Since she was closer she would be on the scene by the time he arrived. It was an alright apartment building, not overly expensive but also not falling apart like many of the buildings that Nick had been called to. The area was one of the better areas of Las Vegas, but Nick knew from experience that that didn't mean anything. He had seen some of the most brutal slayings in some of the nicest places.

Just outside of the door, a man was sitting on a chair wearing nothing but his boxers and a bathrobe. He was a squat man, balding on the back of his head. He ran a chubby hand over his obvious comb over as he gave a statement to a detective. With a heavy sigh, the man leaned over, resting his elbows resting on his knees and his face in his hands.

"He's been here for a while now, a couple of years, but I've never even seen him," The man, identified as Mr. Andrews, said, "He likes to play his music real loud in the evening. I'm in the apartment right beneath him, number 256, so I can hear it real loud. He normally shuts it off around nine, but he started playing it around eleven. He was still playing it at midnight. I can't have that. I know it's Friday, but my kids have to sleep. The superintendent is always out Fridays, so I decided to come up here and yell at him myself. The door was open when I got up here, and he didn't answer when I called, so I just went in. I saw the blood and called 911. The operator told me to try to find him, and, I did. I've been sitting out here since then."

The officer nodded and wrote down the information, but Nick knew that he would have to question the man again. For the moment though he looked like he needed some time to digest what had happened. Although the rule was that the one who found the body was always the first suspect, he had trouble believing that this overweight family man was the sort who could kill. Even if he had seen the sweetest little old lady be guilty while her delinquent grandson was innocent, something in his gut told him that this man was just in shock, not guilt.

Nick's first thought as he looked at the apartment was that they couldn't be dealing with someone out of their early twenties. Framed posters covered every available bit of wall space. A large number of them were signed, even more had concert tickets tucked in the bottom right corner. One whole wall of the living room was devoted to an entertainment system. The TV in the middle was nothing to brag about, but the stereo system was top of the line. The CD changer was one of the nicest he had seen, and the library was extensive. Nick had to admit, if he owned this set up, he'd be blasting out music at all hours of the night too.

"I take it you got most of the story on the way in?" Catherine asked, "He's been telling it to every officer who will listen."

"The guy who lives here plays music, guy sitting outside gets irritated, says his kids are sleeping so he comes up here and finds the body. I got that bit." Nick sighed, "So, what do you think?"

"Shame it's Greg's night off," Catherin noted from her position on the floor, "He would have loved this place,"

Nick nodded, noting that he recognized many of the band names from the younger CSI's rambling and what he had listened to during his time in the lab. Nick's eyes traveled from the posters to the stereo system again before looking at the evidence. Catherine did have a point, he would have died and gone to heaven if he had gotten called to this place. 'Shame his soul mate here is probably the dead guy.' Nick thought. He felt an odd pang course through his heart at the thought, but he couldn't say if it was at the thought of someone being so perfect for his friend or that this person was dead. He didn't care to examine it any further.

"I meant the evidence," Nick said, forcing his mind away from Greg.

"Take a look for yourself. No signs of a forced entry, but defiantly a sign of a big struggle in the living room."

Blood was splattered on the wall and was soaking into the carpet. The coffee table was turned on its side, blood and some tissue was visible on one of the sharp corners. Catherine snapped a photo of it and bagged it. Pieces of broken dishes, each with a different pattern on the edges, laid on the floor, mixed with some glass from a broken lamp. Catherine snapped photos of it and placed the glass in a bag, many of them had blood on them. Nick mentally pieced the glass together. The dish with a blue floral pattern around the edge had a large section missing.

"The DB is in the bedroom," The older CSI noted, pointing to a bloody handprint on the doorway.

"Any ID?" Nick asked, peering in.

The body laid face down in the bed, still wearing an old T-shirt, but his thin pajama pants had been pulled almost all of the way off. The fabric still clung to the man's left foot. His arms bore many slashes, defensive wounds by the look of it, but the majority of the blood seemed to come from beneath the body. As soon as the medical examiner arrived he'd be able to see where it was coming from.

"A neighbor, not the one who's outside right now, but his next door neighbor, Mr. Benson, said that it wasn't the guy who lives here. Apparently he's never see this man before, but he does have some strong opinions about the man who does live here." Catherine said from the other side of the room as Nick got to work.

"Oh yeah, what's that?"

"He said the guy who lives here is a real sicko, Mr. Benson moved into the apartment next to him sometime last year, but he doesn't even know his name. Lives alone, doesn't seem to have any friends, only goes out at night, comes back smelling like death, and you'll love this last part."

"Let's hear it," Nick moved past the body to the bedside table. He pulled a drawer open and peered inside.

"He's seen our guy carrying around some pretty nasty pictures,"

"Yeah, I'd believe that, I just found his porn collection, or at least part of it. He also has some surfing magazines shoved in here too." Nick moved the magazines to look beneath them.

"I'm not talking about porn, though that's what Mr. Benson thinks he does with it. I'm talking about pictures of dead bodies, some of them ripped apart. He saw them when the guy who lives here dropped them in hallway."

"Really? 'Cause I just found some medicine in here, says it settles stomachs and relieves nausea, seems odd that he'd have such a week stomach if he's looking at those pictures. There's some sleeping pills in here as well."

Dave stepped into the room, surprising Nick who had not heard him come in. He took one look at the body and sighed.

"I hate it when they're all cut up like this," he muttered before moving to the body, "From what I saw coming in and what's soaking into the bed I'd say he probably bled out, but I'll have to get him back to the lab to be sure. There is trauma to the dead, consistent with falling and scraping his head, did that table have blood on it?"

"Yeah," Nick sighed, "But that part is our job."

"Okay, don't worry, I'm happy where I am, not thinking about switching jobs like Sanders did. Time of death…" Dave pulled a thermometer out, checking that is suspicions were correct, "…maybe an hour or two ago, he's still hot. There's a substance around the anus, looks like it could be some sort of lubricant, might be a bit of blood mixed in with it. Possible signs of sexual trauma, but it very well could have been consensual if the other guy wasn't careful enough. Ready to roll him?"

Nick nodded and Dave rolled the body on its back. Nick could now see what had caused the massive amount of bleeding, there was a shard of broken glass shoved in his neck. The end sticking out had a blue floral pattern, the same as the broken dish in the living room. Nick took a photograph.

"So, you think it could have been the guy who lives here?" Catherine asked as they moved back into the living room while Dave bagged the body.

"A dead body shows up in his apartment? You bet he's a suspect," Nick sighed heavily, looking over the apartment for anything that they had missed, "Plus you said that there was no sign of forced entry, you don't need to break into your own house. But then again, when you leave your own house you close the door behind you, our guy from downstairs said it was left open."

A sudden thump snapped Nick out of his thoughts. His eyes shot to the door, worried that the killer had returned. He mentally smacked himself for even thinking that, the police would never have let him through. If someone was allowed to walk in then the police would have had to have recognized them.

"Greg, isn't it your day off?" Catherine asked, looking at him skeptically, "You've been putting in too much OT, why don't you go home. Nick and I have it under control here."

Nick looked his friend up and down. He was wearing one of his loudest shirts, the type that had disappeared when he started working in the field. His CSI vest that they wore to scenes was nowhere to be seen and his hands hung loose and empty at his sides, he did not have his kit with him. Next to his feet, a plastic shopping bag sat, the source of the thump. Nick's mind scanned over the apartment again. The posters, the stereo system, the CD's, even the surfing magazines, they all fit his friend too well.

"Greg," Nick stepped forward, but his friend backed away. He looked like a nervous animal, ready to bolt. The image almost brought tears to his eyes, but he tried to focus on the task at hand. He couldn't let Greg see what was in that next room. Nick strengthened his accent, knowing that people responded well to it, especially Greg, "Common Greggo,"

Greg's eyes traveled behind Nick and Catherine to the blood spatter on the walls. They followed to the floor, reaching the doorway to the bedroom. From where he was standing, Nick knew that he would be able to see Dave.

"Jesse!" Greg said quickly, dashing forward. Nick lunged to the side, trying to catch his friend before the younger CSI saw something he would regret. He missed and Greg slipped past him, only getting three steps into the room before he froze.

"Hey, I thought it was your night off," Dave said with a smile, not realizing what was going on.

Nick moved behind the younger CSI, placing his hand on Greg's shoulders. He could feel him tense under his touch, but he didn't move. They stood there together as Greg watched as the body get loaded into a black bag and wheeled out of the room. He took a step forward, reaching out to the bed. His fingers lightly brushed against the sheets, blood coming off on his finger tips.

"Com'on Greggo," Nick tried to keep his long time friend calm, but he could feel the younger man's defenses crumbling away, "Catherine can take care of this, lets go back to the lab."

Greg nodded. His eyes left the bloody bed for the first time since he entered the room as he turned to face Nick. His eyes were so full of pain, Nick's heart filled with pain.

"Yeah, let's go."

* * *

Thank you for reading my story. I am going to try as best as I can to post a new chapter up once a week, most likely on Fridays. This is my first CSI fanfic, but I doubt that it will be my last. I only discovered it around September and I've been watching as many old episodes as I can. There might be some inaccuracies, please let me know if you spot any. Should you choose to review, thank you very much for your support (or falmes, whichever way it goes).


	2. Chapter 2

The trip back to the lab replayed again and again in Nick's mind. Greg, who was never quiet, had been mostly silent the entire trip, only speaking twice. Once was to ask Nick to pull over so that he could get sick in the bushes alongside the road. Other than that, he only made a phone call, which Nick was certain was against all kinds of regulations, but he wasn't going to deny his friend any sort of comfort. Whoever he had called didn't answer their phone anyway. After a pause, Greg left a voicemail. The words didn't matter, it was just a message saying that something terrible had happened and asked for a call back. His voice held the real message. It was shaky, fragile. Nick had never heard his friend like that before, and if he had his way, he would never hear it again.

Nick had known for years that Greg was special, not just because of how smart he was or how funny he could be. There was something special just to Nick, but the Texan didn't like to talk about that. He had never thought of himself as gay, rather he thought of Greg as irresistible. He had gotten very good at not questioning his sexuality back in high school. There had always been a couple of "irresistible" men around him, in high school, college, and now in the work force, but he always managed to resist them. Years of practice made controlling himself easier, but he never paused to consider why he needed that strict control, or why he wanted to get rid of that control now.

His mind wandered back through all of the cases that he had worked on with Greg, how he couldn't manage to keep all of his attention on his work because Greg was with him, looking so tempting. His interest had started back when Greg was in the lab. He would always volunteer to take the samples to DNA or to retrieve the results, anything just to see the crazy lab rat. He had come close to exposing his secrets many times, particularly after the explosion, even more so after his own 'incident' involving a box, but he had kept his secrets to himself.

Once again, he wanted to throw out that control, the one thing that had been a constant in his life. He wanted to burst into that interrogation room and comfort Greg. The man was sitting in the chair, looking as lost and confused as he had when Nick had first spotted him at the crime scene. As soon as Grissom had gotten wind of what had happened, he had pulled Nick and Catherine from the case, claiming that if Greg was involved in any way then they could not be. After identifying the DB as his good friend, Jesse Cunningham, Greg was involved.

"I finally get a day off and look what happens!" Nick heard someone mutter as they walked towards the interrogation room. He peered out of the observation area to see a man just a little older than himself opening the door and stepping inside. He was of average build with short dark hair. His clothes looked like they had just been thrown on shortly before running out the door. Nick recognized the look, it was the official called-in-on-my-day-off look that had been very popular with the crime lab lately. Returning into the observation room, Nick watched the man pull up a chair, sitting down across from Greg.

"Hello, I am CSI Davin," The man introduced himself. Nick remembered that name, he was a recent transfer from some other lab, though he couldn't recall which city. He hadn't even been around long enough to build a reputation, which he knew from experience only took a matter of hours in this lab. Obviously he had been put on the case because he couldn't possibly know anything about Greg.

"CSI Sanders," Greg responded automatically. His voice was stronger than it was in the car, but not by much, "I want to get this over with."

"Okay, how do you know Jessie Cunningham?"

"We met in college, Freshman year, I tutored him in chemistry. We were roommates for sophomore, junior, and senior year. We've kept in touch since then." Greg explained, looking at the one way mirror instead of at CSI Davin. If Nick had not double checked that the lights were off behind him, he could have sworn that Greg was actually looking right at him. His eyes seemed to be locked on Nick. It sent shivers up and down his spine, though he couldn't explain why.

"What was he doing at your apartment,"

"He was staying over until things got better."

"Got better?" Davin eyed him suspiciously, although Greg didn't notice.

"Jesse lived in New York City, he was an actor on Broadway, well sometimes he was. About a year and a half ago he met someone, says he fell in love. Said, not says. His…date was a drug dealer, got Jesse hooked on stuff, but I don't know what. He realized that he had to get out and he spent the last six months rehab. He made a couple of mistakes, but he graduated from it last week. He couldn't stay in New York, he knew he'd just end up in the same trouble again, so he came to stay with me until he got back on his feet."

"Where were you earlier tonight?" Davin probed. Something about the way the man spoke made Nick want to jump through the glass and punch the man.

"I went out, I was stupid and not thinking with the brain in my head. Jesse begged me not to, said that he didn't feel safe, didn't want to be alone, but I had a date. Emlyn, and don't even bother asking me for a last name or a phone number because things didn't go that well. We met at a coffee shop before going to a late dinner. We were supposed to go to a movie, but I skipped out because I felt bad about leaving Jesse alone, I couldn't stop thinking about it all night long, he looked so sad when I left. I stopped by the store on the way back, picked up some ice cream, sprinkles, chocolate sauce, everything needed for some sundaes. Jesse loved ice cream, and I felt bad, wanted to make it up to him. The receipts are in my wallet, both for dinner and the ice cream."

Nick breathed an inward sigh of relief, Greg had an alibi, complete with documentation. It sickened Nick to think that he had suspected his friend for even a moment. While his heart had always insisted that Greg was innocent, he knew from experience how blind a heart could be. His logical mind had realized right away that Greg would be labeled the prime suspect, at least at first.

"I see that." Davin leafed through some of the documents in the file, "Can you think of anyone who might have had it out for Jesse?"

"Maybe the drug dealer, I don't know. I don't think he's talked to hardly anyone since he got here, I'm pretty sure he hasn't even left my apartment. He got a call yesterday on his cell, he was crying by the end of it he was so scared. Before that he was okay with staying in the apartment alone, like when I went to work. I don't know who called him." Greg's eyes were permanently attached themselves to the table as he spoke, if Nick had been watching someone question anyone else he would have been overjoyed. Davin was getting close to something uncomfortable, which normally led to the suspect slipping up, but Greg was not a suspect and he did not want him to be uncomfortable.

"Normally it's the girl who gets stalked at the end of a relationship, not the man." Davin noted, leaning in. He looked like a vulture eyeing his prey and waiting for the last signs of life to fade away.

"There was no girl. Jesse is…was gay, the drug dealer was a guy. There is a picture of the two of them together, it should be in the trash. I found it in Jesse's wallet and I stole it, I didn't want him to see it and think about his old life again, I didn't want him to slip up."

"You mentioned a phone call that scared him…"

"It was yesterday, a couple of hours before I left. Jesse and I were watching a movie, his cell phone rang and he went into my room to take the call. I paused the movie and made some popcorn. When he came back from my room his hands were shaking. I tried to get him to tell me what was wrong, but he wouldn't say anything. We forgot about the movie and I…I comforted him for a while."

Nick noticed the pause, knew that something else had happened, but Greg was reluctant to reveal it. For him to try to hide something he must have had a good reason. Nick knew that Davin had noticed it as well, he would have had to have been deaf and dumb to have missed it. He mentally prayed that he let it slide, that he didn't press any further, but he would have lost all respect for Davin as a CSI if he didn't.

"Comforted?"

"Yes, I comforted him." Greg's eyes darted over to the one way mirror again, looking right at where Nick was standing, "Can I go now?"

"You're a CSI, you know how this works. If there is any information that you are hiding, and I suspect that there is, the evidence will tell us. So, come on, tell us what we are looking for."

"My best friend is dead, I'm tired and scared and I just want to get out of this room," Greg pleaded, "Just let me out."

"You aren't being charged with anything so far, you may go," Davin sighed, closing the folder.

Greg practically leaped out of the chair, he was out the door in no time flat. Nick wanted to chase him down and talk to him, but he also wanted to give him a chance to recover from the interrogation a bit first. He let out a big breath of air and turned to Catherine.

"What do you think?" He asked, acknowledging her presence for the first time.

"He has an alibi, no motive, I wouldn't worry about it, cowboy," Catherine rested a hand on his shoulder, "I know he's not telling us everything yet, but he'll get to it."

"Greg never keeps secrets," Nick insisted. Greg had always been the most open person in the entire group.

"When did he tell you a friend from college would be staying with him?" Catherine asked. When Nick stared blankly back at her she continued his questioning, "He's been keeping his personal life quiet recently. I haven't heard about one of his dates in forever. I hate to say it, but I think he's been shutting us out lately."

Nick nodded, not sure what else to do. He had noticed the lack of stories about Greg's crazy dates, he had even enjoyed not hearing about them. Every time he heard about one of them his stomach would knot with jealousy, even though he knew that he had nothing to be jealous of. Most of the dates that they heard about were simple one night stands, some of them hadn't even lasted that long. To his knowledge, Greg hadn't been in a serious relationship in years, and he should know. It wasn't as if he was keeping tabs on the youngest CSI, but he did keep an ear open for rumors of romance.

Still, he reminded himself, is hapless crush would remain just that, a crush. He would never, under pain of death, admit his interest for men. His reluctance went double for Greg. Even if he had a shot, which he was certain that he didn't, he worked with Greg. Office romances never ended well, he refused to destroy his friendship for a brief fling. Besides, Greg was straight anyway.

These thoughts swam around in his head as he made his way to the break room. His shift had ended an hour ago, so he didn't have anywhere to be, and he wanted to make sure that Greg was alright before he headed home. He couldn't say why, but he just knew that he would be in the break room. Even though it was not the room's original purpose, it had long ago become the one safe haven in the lab.

Nick paused outside of the break room, looking through the glass of the door. Greg was sitting on the couch with his cup of cold coffee, but he was not alone with his beverage. A large man was sitting next to him, maybe six foot six, but he couldn't tell for sure because he was sitting down. The man had a muscular build that reminded Nick of a gym teacher that he had hated in high school. He had a warm smile on his face and one arm thrown around Greg's shoulders. The young CSI seemed better than he had in the interrogation room only minutes before, but that was to be expected. Nick couldn't help it when a bit of jealousy flared up in his gut as Greg rested his head on the man's shoulder.

"Hey, Griss," Nick motioned for his superior when he caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of his eye, "I didn't know visitors were allowed in the break room."

"They aren't," Grissom assured him.

"Then what's he's doing there?" Nick motioned to the man in the break room.

"That's Theodore Finn, and he isn't there."

Nick nodded, understanding exactly what his supervisor was trying to get across. This, he realized, must have been the person that Greg had called from the car. He wanted to go in, make sure that Greg was alright, but he wasn't certain that he would be welcome. The two were looking overly comfortable, Greg snuggled against Finn like that. He allowed himself to entertain the idea that Greg could be gay. Just how naturally he leaned against Finn could even serve as evidence that they were together, but the wedding band on Finn's finger told a different story. He was just about to leave when Greg spotted him and motioned him in.

As soon as Nick came in the room, Greg pulled away from Finn. The man didn't seem the least bit upset about the loss of contact, which both overjoyed and disappointed Nick. On one hand, he was thrilled because Greg and Finn were most likely not together, but also saddened because he no longer had any reason to question his coworker's sexuality. He mentally slapped himself for that last bit, it didn't matter if Greg was gay or not because nothing could happen between them.

"Nick, this is Ted Finn. Ted, this is Nick," Greg offered up the introductions, "Ted and I were also roommate's in college, we had an apartment together with Jesse and a few other people."

"Nice to meet you," Nick lied.

"I've heard a lot about you," Ted reached out and shook Nick's hand firmly. Nick couldn't tell if the man's friendly demeanor was a good thing or a bad thing. It was clearly good for Greg to have someone so good so close to him, but it made hating him a whole lot harder.

"I wish I could say the same, Greg and I don't get a chance to talk about something other than evidence too often," Nick smiled, feeling embarrassed that he had never heard of either Finn or Jesse until that evening.

"Work keeps us busy," Greg nodded, pulling farther out of Finn's embrace.

"You never mentioned that he was from Texas," Ted said, sounding as if he were accusing Greg of something, though Nick was unsure why.

"It doesn't matter," Greg insisted.

"He has the accent," Finn pressed.

"It doesn't matter," Greg's voice was firmer this time. Apparently Ted decided to cut his losses and give up. Nick couldn't tell what his birthplace or his accent had to do with anything. He was tempted to bring it up, but he let it go. He could always ask Greg about it later, and it was probably some long joke between two great friend who knew more about each other than Nick could ever hope to know about either of them. It hurt, but Nick hid it well.

"Do you have somewhere to sleep tonight?" Nick asked. The question was mostly directed at Greg, but he didn't try to exclude Ted.

"I have a hotel room for the night," Ted put his hand back on Greg's shoulder, "You staying with me?"

Greg nodded, leaning back into his friend's shoulder. Nick tried to smile, but he hated this Theodore Finn. He knew that it was childish, but he wanted to be the one Greg leaned on, he wanted to comfort him. He mentally kicked himself yet again. Greg needed someone to be there for him, not a competition for his attention. As he stood up, he placed a hand firmly on Greg's free shoulder, earning him some eye contact.

"Greggo, you need anything at all, you just ask me, okay?"

Greg nodded, pulling away from Ted's body. A bit of joy flared through Nick's gut, but he tried to suppress it. Greg was in good hands, Nick shouldn't want to take him away from that.

"Can I cash in on that right now?" Greg asked, his voice sounding stronger each time he talked, "I have some spare clothes in my locker…"

Nick eyed his friend, not noticing until that moment the state of his shirt. It held a stain from dinner, a few more stains from loosing dinner. He actually had not noticed the smell right up until that moment.

"I'll be right back," Nick smiled, glad to feel at least a little useful, "And I'll grab some of the lab's coffee. It might not be Blue Hawaiian, but someone has been buying something better than this sludge."

He could see Greg smile as he left the room. A warm feeling was slowly flooding through his heart. That smile was for him, and it had been real. He wasn't sure why that one smile made him so happy, or why it was so important that it had been for him. If he had ever counted, he would have found that most of Greg's smiles were for him, and he was proud that he could make his friend so happy. It wasn't always enough though, sometimes he wanted more.

* * *

Thank you very much to everyone who read this chapter and who reviewed the first chapter. Your kind words of encouragement were…encouraging. I thought about putting a different adjective in there, but I decided against it at the last moment. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and I really appreciate reviews.


	3. Chapter 3

There were not many people that Nick hated. He hated murderers who got off of a technicality, he hated anyone who would dare harm a child, and he hated people who would try to protect the very person who was abusing them, but most of all he hated Theodore Finn. He hated that Ted could sit there and hold Greg, give him the comfort that Nick wanted to give him. He wanted to wrap his arms around the Greg's smaller frame, tell him that everything would be okay, everything that Ted was doing. Instead, Nick was getting a shirt.

Thankfully, Nick, along with anyone else who had ever entered the locker room, knew Greg's combination by heart. The CSI seemed to find it impossible to enter his combination without reciting the numbers out loud. Nick quickly, and without talking, turned the dial and quickly opened the locker.

Even in his foul mood, he couldn't keep from smiling at the picture taped to the back. It was a photo of the entire team, not just the CSIs, but the lab rats and some of the detectives as well. Even Hodges was in the picture, but there was hardly any of his face visible from under the black ink. As soon as he had gotten the picture, Greg had drawn an evil mustache on him, curling the ends up like a cartoon character. Nick had added a monocle and a top hat later on. Looking away from the picture, he found the extra shirt and headed back to the break room.

When he turned the corner, coffee in one hand and the spare shirt draped over his arm, he was surprised to find Ted standing just outside of the door, turned far enough so that anyone inside would not be able to see him. He had expected the man to still be uncomfortably close to Greg. He had left knowing that Greg wouldn't be alone, that there would be someone there. When he got close enough, Nick could see the tears on his cheeks, some of the anger he felt towards the man faded. He made a bit of noise and Ted looked up, quickly wiping away the evidence and putting a forced smile back on his face. Together they walked back into the room where Greg was still sitting on the couch. His head perked up when he heard the door open.

"Hey Greego, got the stuff," Nick smiled, holding out the shirt and coffee.

Greg took a sip of the coffee first and handed it back to Nick. He then pulled his shirt over his head without unbuttoning it and threw it in the trash. Nick had to admit that he was disappointed that Greg was wearing and undershirt, even more disappointed that he didn't take it off. Just because he knew that he could never have anything with Greg didn't mean that would have refused a peep show. He snatched the spare shirt from Nick's hands and was just about ready to put it on when another hand come and yanked it away from both of them.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Finn held a hand up to stop them, keeping the shirt in his other hand, "Greg, what's going on with your back?"

From his position, Nick could see a blush from on Greg's face. He had taken his shirt off facing Nick, the same way that he had always done it in the locker room. It had not escaped the CSI's attention that Greg always kept his back away from everyone when he changed clothes. It was common knowledge that he didn't want anyone to see the scars on his back. When he had pulled the shirt over his head his undershirt must have risen up far enough for Finn to get a glimpse at some of the scars.

Nick had heard that Greg had never told his parents about going into the field, he wondered if it was possible that he had not told his friends about the explosion. Judging from Ted's reaction, he had a feeling that that was the case. As horrible as it sounded to him, it did make Nick feel better to know that Greg was keeping some secrets from this Ted guy. It meant that he wasn't as close as Nick had believed him to be.

He watched in silence as Ted questioned their mutual friend about the lattice work of scars tracing over his skin, though he had only seen a small portion. Greg danced around the subject in a pre-choreographed routine, never actually mentioning what had happened to him that day in the lab. Ted didn't fall for any of it, Nick could see it in his eyes, but he didn't call Greg out on any of the contradictions in his avoidance. Nick had a feeling that he'd get questioned about it later when Greg was not there to deny the explosion.

"You about ready to go then?" Greg asked, understandably anxious to get away, "I have to go to the store before we go to the hotel. Everything I own is in a crime scene."

Ted looked back and forth between Nick and Greg for a moment, the wheels were turning in his head, but Nick wasn't sure what he was examining. He seemed to get his answer relatively quickly and approached the Texan.

"Here's my number, incase you need to get a hold of me," Ted offered Nick a scrap of paper, "I put the hotel info on it too."

"Thanks," Nick nodded, pocketing the information, "You take good care of him, oaky? I'm sort of worried that it hasn't fully hit him yet."

"I'm standing right here, believe it or not I can actually hear you." Greg reminded them.

* * *

Nick wasn't surprised when he woke up feeling like he had just closed his eyes. He had spent the hours usually dedicated to sleep pacing around his apartment, constantly worrying about his friend. What if the killer had murdered Jesse thinking that it was Greg? The man who lived in the apartment below him didn't even know what Greg looked like. He could have been enraged about the loud music and flipped out. It could have been a relative of someone that Greg had brought to justice, he had experience in that department. The possibilities were endless.

His mind had driven him insane all night long, he wanted nothing more than to see Greg, to make sure that he was alright, to be with him. When he finally got to work, Nick found Greg in the locker room wearing the same shirt that he had left wearing. He was staring into the empty locker, looking worse than Nick felt. Dark circles had appeared under his eyes, his skin looked grey. He didn't even notice when Nick walked right up to him. He jumped almost a foot in the air when Nick placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Sorry," Greg blushed, "I'm a bit out of it."

"I can tell," Nick couldn't help but to chuckle, "So, I take it you've been cleared then."

"I'm here to find out." Greg bit his lip, looking up at Nick as if he wanted to ask him something. "CSI Davin is going to question me more. I hate being alone with him…"

"You want me to come with you?" Nick asked, as if reading his mind. Greg nodded, "Just let me check with Grissom and see if he'll okay it."

Before long, Nick was sitting next to Greg in the interrogation room. He knew the ground rules, could only offer moral support. He was not supposed to talk to Greg or Davin, and they would proceed as though he was not in the room. After they went over the rules, he and Greg were in the room alone at first, waiting for Davin to enter. Grissom had explained that he was staying late, not pulling a double, but staying a little bit after shift so that he could question Greg while he was actually awake.

"Hey, you're going to be okay," Nick put a hand on his friend's shoulder, enjoying the warmth that leaked through the thin material of Greg's shirt.

"I didn't do anything," Greg leaned forward, closer to Nick.

The Texan tried to control himself. Greg was a good friend, a very attractive good friend, but only a friend. He was straight and he was in pain, he was vulnerable and Nick was not the sort to take advantage of that. Still, Greg did need comfort, and the Californian was a very tactile person. Perhaps physical comfort would be the best, Nick rationalized as he pulled Greg into a hug.

"You're going to be just fine, you didn't do anything, the evidence will support you," Nick whispered in his ear, feeling the fragile body tremble beneath him. His mind raged, but he kept all signs of struggle off of his face. Every dream he had had, every time he had almost confessed his feelings, they were all coursing through his consciousness. He wanted nothing more than to kiss Greg, give him the shot of confidence that he knew his friend needed.

"Are you two done?" A voice asked from the side of the room.

Nick spun around to see a very irritated CSI Davin. Although Grissom had made it sound as though the man was more than happy to stay after his shift to make the witness more comfortable, this was clearly not the case. Nick could tell from years of personal experience that this man wanted nothing more than to run home and curl up in a soft bed until his alarm clock went off.

"Sorry," A slight blush rose to Greg's cheeks as he pulled away and sat down in the chair across from Davin.

"Are you aware that the approximate time of Jesse Cunningham's death is less than an hour after the time you claim to have left at?" Davin double checked his notes, just to be sure. "You claim to have gone to dinner with someone named Emlyn that you conveniently have no way to contact. Do you have any proof at all that you left at the time you claim to have left?"

"No," Greg sighed, not liking where this questioning was going. The previous day the questioning had started off by assuming that he was innocent. Today CSI Davin seemed to be convinced of his guilt.

"We also found a shoeprint in Jesse's blood. What size shoe do you wear?"

"Ten, sometimes ten and a half depending on the shoe, but you already know that since you personally went through my closet." Greg bit his lip, "I'm guessing that the shoeprint is a size ten."

"Tell me again, how do you know Jesse?"

Greg repeated the story from the previous night, including the bits about Jesse's drug issues. Nick longed to reach out and comfort his friend. He could tell that Greg was getting worn down by the questioning, especially after not having slept the night before. Nick wanted to get his friend a cup of coffee, but didn't want to risk leaving him alone with the hostile interrogator.

"Your story has several contradictions, Mr. Sanders."

"CSI Sanders," Greg corrected, "CSI, just like you."

"Then why don't you tell me what is wrong with your story?" Davin smirked.

"No suitcases. Since I said he was staying with me for a while, you assumed that there would be using suitcases. He didn't have much when he showed up and we figured that he'd probably be there about a few months, so…"

"We?" Davin raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, both Jesse and me. He was going to move in with me for a while, so he put his clothes away in an old dresser that I wasn't using anymore. I was going to throw it out because the bottom drawer kept getting stuck." Greg sighed heavily again, "But you said that there were several problems with my story, what else do you have?"

"You called Jesse your friend, I'm not sure that this word best describes the relationship that you and the victim shared."

Nick saw Greg physically stiffen. This must have been the information that he had been unwilling to share with him the night before. For as anxious as he had been to find out what Greg had been hiding, now he didn't want to know. It took every ounce of effort to keep himself seated, to keep his mouth shut.

"We were very close friends," Greg clarified.

"We found seminal fluid in Jesse's anal cavity and ran a DNA test on it. Normally we just end up with an unknown male contributor, but we got lucky this time. The man was in the system. Would you like to tell me what we found, or are you going to make me say it?"

Greg swallowed, closing his eyes and lowering his head down to the desk. Nick inwardly cringed as he saw his friend's forehead connect with the cold metal table. He had seen the fear in his eyes, the dark blush that spread across Greg's entire face. His own heart raced with the possibilities of this new information. He had used the same trick to get people to confess information that they already knew. Davin had the test results in his hands, just out of Nick's view. Greg didn't need the results, he already knew what they had found. By his own admission, Greg had confirmed that Jesse had hadn't left his apartment. That left only one possible donor.

Greg was gay, or bisexual at the very least. He wanted to put a hand on his friend's shoulder, offer some form of physical comfort to him, proof that he wouldn't be rejected. Nick was very familiar with that fear, it was the same fear that had kept him confined to the closet since he was fifteen, the same fear that made it difficult for him to even admit the truth to himself.

He tried not to think about the implications of the findings on the case. At the very most, they proved that Greg had had sex with Jesse, it did not mean he had harmed him at all. He knew that from an unfortunate personal experience while he was still trying to prove to himself that he was interested in women. With a deep breath, he pushed all thoughts of Kristy out of his mind, he had to focus on Greg and trying to help him without revealing his own secrets.

"After the phone call, Jesse was upset, he spent almost an hour literally crying on my shoulder. He was so close, so warm, and…being a CSI isn't easy, especially if you work graveyard. I haven't had time to meet anyone, out of the few dates I've gotten I've had to cancel over half of them to come in and work or to try to catch up on some sleep. It had been a long time, and he was so close, so needy. I took advantage of the situation."

"As in ra…"

"As in it was fully consensual but he was upset and a good friend wouldn't have let him make that decision," Greg's eyes narrowed as he lifted his head off of the desk, "Jesse was my friend, I would never do anything to hurt him!"

"There was blood…"

"Mistakes happen! We were both…over egger, I didn't spend as much time preparing him as I should have, but neither of us were willing to wait." Greg slapped the table with both hands, standing up and turning away. Nick followed him with his eyes, but he noticed that Greg avoided his gaze. "Have you ever had gay sex, Davin? Do you know what it's like, how it physically works? There's blood sometimes, it doesn't matter how careful you are, sometimes you can't be careful enough. Jesse was my best friend."

"Have a seat," Davin said without the least bit of emotion in his voice.

"What are you trying to prove?" Greg asked, his voice still overflowing with anger.

"A dead body was found in your apartment, you had opportunity since we don't know exactly what time you left for your date. There was a bloody footprint in your size shoe, what do you think I'm trying to prove, CSI Sanders? Davin leaned in, "You know that hiding information isn't going to work."

"I'm not hiding anything!" Greg shouted again, his face only inches away from Davin's, "What else do you want to know? You want to know what we did? You already know who was on top, but do you want to know what positions we used, how good he was? What else do you want?"

"Greg," Nick stood up, moving closer to his friend. He knew that he wasn't supposed to interact with him at all during the interview, but things had gone too far. He understood the fear, the revulsion, how it felt to be questioned. He still vividly recalled being questioned about Kristy, but at least he had been safe in the knowledge that no one would ever discover his secret truth. Greg's sexuality was being laid bare in front of his friend and a stranger.

"You don't get to talk," Greg's voice was softer now. he anger had left his body, making him sound weak.

"Do you want to know what I think happened?" Davin sneered.

"No," Greg answered, his eyes still locked on Nick's, "I've had enough, this is over."

"Well too bad," Davin opened his mouth, ready to give him a horrific version of what he thought had happened, but Nick cut him off.

"Give him a rest."

"CSI Stokes," Davin scanned his body, as if he was trying to decide the Texan's worth, "Can I speak with you outside?"

Nick moved away from Greg, heading for the door with Davin. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Greg slumped back in the chair. He knew that he was going to get screamed at by Davin, and then again by Grissom, but he couldn't care less. He wanted to be back in the room, comforting Greg, telling him that everything would be alright. Every question, every accusation that had been fired at Greg had felt like a knife cutting into his heart.

"CSI Stokes, I know that you are a close personal friend to Sanders. I allowed your presence out of pity, but I cannot permit you to interfere with the questioning. Even you have to admit that he is the main suspect at this moment."

"What about that drug dealer guy?" Nick asked, "Or whoever called him on his cell phone?"

"The call that he received was from the clinic that he was recently released from. His roommate and mentor, George Henders, left the clinic not long before Jesse. He relapsed and died of an overdose, that was what the call that upset him."

"The drug dealer?" Nick pressed.

"We've sent the photograph that was recovered from the apartment has been sent to all of the precincts in New York City in an attempt to identify him, but we aren't expecting much."

"Damn it!" he swore, mind reeling, "Have you found proof of anyone else in the house?"

"We found a footprint in the victim's blood. Sanders wears the same size. None of his shoes match, but even a simpleton would be smart enough to throw that pair of shoes out."

"So you don't have any real evidence that Greg did it, you're just putting pressure on him to see if he'll crack, give you something to work with. Did it ever occur to you that he's innocent, that you are harassing a man who has just gone through the terrible trauma of finding his best friend dead?"

"The attack indicates passion, by his own admission, no one else in Las Vegas even knew the victim. There was no forced entry, Sanders has not mentioned anyone else having a key," Davin said, as if that alone was enough to convict him. "Not to mention he also lied once."

"He lied about his sex life! He's not out, no one here knows that he's gay, or bi, or whatever he is. Half the people here assume he's gay, but he's not out."

"CSI Stokes, I believe your supervisor may have an assignment for you, you should go check in with him."

Nick's chest tightened. He wanted to throw Davin through a wall. He stormed away, knowing full well that he would only get himself in trouble by staying. He needed some air.

* * *

Thank you to everyone who reviewed and supported me though the first few chapters. I'll try to post the next chapter next Friday. I've done pretty good so far. Two weeks in a row, that's good, right? Appart from Ted and Jesse's first names, has anyone noticed a pattern in the names of the original characters? If you go back and look, it's pretty obvious at this point. Anyway, thank you for putting in the time to read this. I hope that you have enjoyed it so far and that you will continue to enjoy it in the future. Thank you in advance for reviews for chapter three.


	4. Chapter 4

"Nick!" An unfamiliar voice shouted. While it was commanding, it also sounded somewhat unsure, as if they were not one hundred percent certain who they were calling to.

Nick spun around in the doorway to see a girl standing just outside of the parking lot to the crime lab. She looked to be no more than fourteen years old with dirty blonde hair hanging down off of her shoulders. She did not look familiar.

"Where's Greg?" The girl asked, full of determination, "There were police at his apartment last night and my dad wont tell me what happened."

"Who are you?" Nick asked, ever worried about strangers knowing his name.

"Isabel Benson, I live next door to Greg with my dad. He's really cool, Greg, not my dad. What happened to him, people were saying that there was a murder and…" Her eyes welled up with tears.

"Greg's fine, he's just answering a few questions for people." Nick didn't consider that lying, Greg was physically fine, just not emotionally, "He had a friend over…"

"Jesse, I met him too. Greg was asleep, but Jesse was watching TV. Did he go home?"

"He was murdered last night in Greg's apartment," He was certain that she would not appreciate being babied. "It's just about 1AM, what are you doing out here?"

"He didn't do it," Isabel said, looking down at the ground and ignoring Nick's questions.

"How can you be so sure?" Nick asked, intrigued. He had seen many people who were convinced that whoever it was they cared about had not committed any crimes. He had seen mothers convinced that their sons would never hurt his wife, husbands swearing their wives would never hurt their child, but this girl was different. She didn't think that Greg was innocent, she knew that he was. The only way for her to be that sure is if she had more information than they had.

"He just wouldn't," She said, keeping her gaze away from Nick, "He's too good for that! He keeps me safe and he looks out for people."

"If you know anything that could help him…"

"I have to go home," Isabel drew away from Nick, "it's late, past midnight."

"It was past midnight when you left your house. I've worked here long enough to know that a girl like you shouldn't be out so late."

"I came here on my own, I can get back on my own," The girl insisted.

"I'm sure you could, but it would make me feel a whole lot better to know that you got home safely," Nick motioned towards his car, "come on, before your dad has a fit wondering where you are."

"He's asleep," She reasoned, which hardly made Nick feel more comfortable.

* * *

"What the hell are you doing with my daughter?" Mr. Benson shouted as Nick walked up the hall next to Isabel. His bald head was growing red with anger. "Do you have any idea how late it is?"

"I found her outside of the crime lab, just wanted to make sure that she got home safely," he explained.

"You went there to see that pervert, is that it?" The father's eyes narrowed.

"He's not a pervert!" Isabel yelled at him.

"He wants a thirteen year old girl in his apartment while he's in his bed, tell me how that can be anything else?" Mr. Benson turned to face Nick, yelling loud enough to attract attention from the neighbors. "And don't you forget about those strange hours, or those disgusting pictures, god knows what he does with those! Normal people don't come home smelling like death! He's a pervert and a murderer, I doubt that last night was his first time!"

Anger boiled over inside of Nick. He tried to control it, but his man was accusing Greg of these terrible crimes, saying that he was worse than the very men that Greg had dedicated his life to bringing to justice. He knew that Greg hadn't done anything wrong. He hadn't murdered Jesse and he certainly hadn't done anything to Isabel. Greg just wasn't that kind of person.

"Yes, I am sure he does sometimes come back here smelling like death, sir. That's what he's been squatting all day, death and decay," Nick's fists clenched, hardly able to spit out any signs of respect towards him, "We have a shower at the lab, but it's never strong enough to get rid of the decomp smell. You have to soak for a long time in hot water and use a lot of lemons to get that scent to go away."

"De-what?" Mr. Benson asked, taking a slight step away from the frightening Nick.

"Decomp, decomposition, when a body has been left somewhere and it doesn't get reported for several days, sometimes weeks. The heat in Vegas doesn't help that. Many times the insides have begun to liquefy, you move the body and a disgusting fluid will begin to ooze out of it. The smell gets in your hair, your clothes, your skin. Just last week Greggo had to climb in a dumpster with one of those bodies, a nasty one too. It had to have been there for weeks before someone called it in. He had to climb in and sort out what filth came from the body and what came from the dumpster."

Nick could see that the man in front of him was starting to turn green. He wondered if he should kick up the details a bit, see if he could send this man running for the toilet. Then again, if he did that, he wouldn't be able to really hammer home just how amazing Greg is. It might be worth it to see Mr. Benson suffer, but he didn't want to upset the man daughter.

"That's what sucks about being the low man on the totem pole, you get stuck with the jobs that no one else wants. Sure, he complains about it a bit, but not much, not as much as I would anyway. He's a CSI, works the graveyard shift with me, which should explain the hours. As for the pictures, he doesn't do that as much anymore. For a while he was headed straight for burn out, working too hard, not taking time off, but he's better about that now. He leaves work at work, doesn't take home the pictures to keep working during his free time."

Nick could see Mr. Benson get more and more uncomfortable as Nick described Greg. That squirming was the only thing preventing Nick from punching the man in the face. "He's an amazing man, willing to risk his own life to save someone, nearly did get killed saving that tourist a while back. Perhaps in the future you should make an effort to at least speak to a man before you convict him of child molestation and murder. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to work."

During the drive back to work, several questions played through his head, questions that he didn't want answered. Mostly, what was that thirteen year old doing in Greg's apartment while he was in bed? He knew Greg better than to think that he had hurt the girl, there had to be some reason why he would invite the girl into his apartment. He vaguely recalled Greg running some finger prints to Afis a couple of months back that had nothing to do with the case that they were working on at the time. They had some connection to Greg's personal life, or his apartment, or something of that nature. Nick had never gotten the full story, not even the lab rats knew the details of the finger print results.

Upon his return, he found that Grissom had another assignment for him, a simple B&E on the other side of town. The perp had broken the front window in full view of the neighbors, who had been awoken by a barking dog. He hadn't stolen anything of actual value, mostly cheap copies of expensive looking items, and the police caught him red handed less than two blocks from the house. The man confessed on the spot, normally it was not even worth investigating. He knew that Grissom was only trying to keep Nick's mind on something other than what was happening to Greg.

Even though he knew it was a waste of time and effort, Nick worked that crime scene to death, all the while wanting to be back with his friend. He wanted to sit in the break room, tell Greg how brave Isabel could be, tell him what Mr. Benson's face looked like as he described the truth about how amazing their former lab rat was. He wanted to do anything that could possibly put a smile on Greg's face, though he knew it would take a long time for that smile to return.

When there was absolutely nothing left to examine, Nick packed up his kit and returned to the lab. He had a couple of samples that should be processed for the sake of procedure. There was no shot of this case ever coming to trial, even if he was a moron the guy would still be smart enough to plead guilty. He hadn't even worn gloves, his finger prints would be all over everything that he had taken as well as sprinkled though out the house.

He dropped the samples off as fast as he could, explaining that they were lowest priority, and searched for Grissom. He had to make sure that there were no other cases requiring his attention before he went to find Greg. Thankfully, they were having a slow night and he was soon in the break room ready to comfort the former DNA tech. It took him a moment of glancing around the room to realize that Greg was not there.

"Hey, Nick," a voice caught him off guard. Nick spun around to see Super Dave standing in the doorway looking oddly out of place and confused.

"What's up?" he asked, trying to sound cool and collected, as if his mind was not running a mile a minute worrying about where Greg could be.

"Um, keep an eye out for Greg, let Grissom or the doc know if you find him."

"Something happen?" Nick felt the blood in his veins turn cold. Had something happened to him? He couldn't stand the thought, but he tried to keep a cool head about it. Greg had probably lost his cell phone, or his wallet, maybe even his keys, but if that was the case then why was Dave looking so nervous.

"He came into the morgue earlier, told Doc Robins that he wanted to see Jesse Cunningham. I thought that it was a bad idea, but the look in his eyes…and Doc's day off was yesterday, so he didn't know. He thought that Greg was just there for a case."

Nick had to nod. He had been on the receiving end of several of those patented puppy dog stares from Greg, he always found it impossible to say no to him. Apparently he was not the only one who was vulnerable. He also knew that Dave felt guilty for how he had acted in Greg's apartment. Just like Doc Robins in the morgue, he had thought that Greg was simply there for a case. There was no doubt in Nick's mind that Dave regretted some of his comments or his treatment of the victim while Greg was present.

"So the doc opened the drawer where Jesse was, and Greg just sorta stood there for a moment. Since Doc didn't know better, he started telling Greg all of the details about how Jesse died. There are things that you don't say to the loved ones, you let them believe that the death wasn't so slow or painful. I was over in the opposite corner, but I had a good view. Greg didn't do anything except look at him for a good five minutes, then he lifted his hand and touched Jesse's forehead. I couldn't see, but Doc said that his hands were shaking really bad. He said good bye to Jesse, thanked the doc, and walked out. No one has seen him since, but his car is still in the parking lot." Dave explained, biting his lip, "He's not answering his cell phone and everyone is getting pretty worried. Doc Robins feels really guilty about all of it."

Nick nodded, taking it all in. The fear in his heart subsided a bit, he was fairly certain that he knew where Greg was. Back when Nick had first returned back to work following his burial, he had almost broken down several times. One of those times, Greg had spotted him. He took Nick back to an old supply closet, once used to store equipment and supplies for the CSI's, but now it was mostly filled with cleaning supplies. Apart from the occasional custodian, no one ever went there anymore. Greg had confessed to taking advantage of it several times after the explosion, Nick assumed that he also went there following the Demetrius James incident, though he never asked.

"Hey, tell Griss that if he doesn't get a call from me in the next few minutes, everything is alright." Nick said, clapping Dave on the shoulder, "I think I know where to find him."

Nick's mind raced as he forced himself to walk through the halls of the lab. He wanted to sprint back to the supply closet, get to Greg as fast as he could, but that would draw too much attention to himself. If anyone was to follow him, he would miss out on his chance to give his friend the comfort that he so desperately needed. If he was hiding in the closet, it was because he did not want anyone to see him. Nick understood the need for privacy, particularly if he just felt the full impact of what had happened.

"Hey, Henry," Nick called out as he ducked his head into the toxicology lab, "Can I ask you something?"

"No, I haven't seen Greg, but Dave has been by here three times looking for him," Henry responded without looking up.

"Do you know how the questioning with Davin went?" Nick asked, choosing to ignore the lab rat's words. He knew that Henry was lying about having seen Greg, the tox lab wasn't far away from the supply closet, but he did not call him on it. Instead, he focused on getting a little bit more information before walking in.

"You know that no one is supposed to talk about an open case. I haven't heard anything."

"Don't make me ask Archie," Nick flashed Henry a smile. All the techs knew what was going on, they knew everything that happened in the lab. While some were reluctant to revel theirs secrets, Nick had learned that Henry and Archie were good sources. He figured that Archie still felt someone guilty about peering so deeply into Nick's personal life while he reviewed the footage from Nigel Crane's cameras, so he could always be counted on. Henry, on the other hand, was just a good guy who hated keeping secrets.

"Okay, I know where he is and I can tell you about the interrogation, but you know that I'm only doing this because it's Greg, right? I'm worried about him,"

"Yeah, me too, and I'm pretty sure that I know where he is." Nick leaned on the doorway, ignoring the way that his heart pounded. He still wanted to rush to Greg, but he did not want to have to force his friend to tell him what had happened with Davin, especially if things did not go well.

"He hasn't been cleared yet, but there's not much evidence pointing to him, it's still just that footprint and because there was no forced entry. Hodges says that Grissom actually asked Davin not to clear him so that Greg would be forced to take some time off to recuperate, but who knows how true that is. There's no hair or fiber evidence, no finger prints except for Greg's and Jesse's, but I heard that they are sending more CSI's to Greg's house to search for more evidence."

"Thanks," Nick smiled at the lab rat once more before heading out. He quickly went down the hall just a bit and tried to open the closet door.

He was not the least bit surprised to find the door locked from the inside. If Greg was indeed in there, he would certainly not want someone finding him. Unfortunately for his plans, this made the Texan even more determined to get inside. He knew that Greg needed someone with him. With a set of skills that he had acquired from breaking into his sister's rooms and diaries, Nick made short work of the lock and the door soon swung open.

It was a large closet, empty except for items on the shelves that lined the back wall. There was enough room that Nick could lie down in the middle, arms and legs stretched out, and not touch any of the sides. The lights were off, but the parking lot's security lights shone in through a small window. Nick knew from experience that he would be able to see just fine once his eyes adjusted. At the moment though, he could only make out vague shapes.

"Greggo?" Nick asked a dark shape in the corner which was either Greg or a bag of trash, "everyone's going nuts looking for you."

"Sorry," the shape replied.

As his eyes continued adjusting to the low long, he began to see more details in the Greg-shaped lump. He had pushed himself into a corner, knees drawn up against his chest, arms wrapped around them. His head was bowed, Nick could only see his hair peeking up. Although his breathing was labored, Nick could tell that he was not crying.

Without saying anything, Nick sat down along one of the walls that formed Greg's corner. He wanted to say something to comfort his friend, but he knew it would be best to wait until Greg was willing to talk. He knew that it wouldn't take long, but for now he was satisfied to just be next to him.

"I went to see him," Greg said after a bit, "he looked like everyone else in there."

Nick nodded, not sure if Greg could see him in the dim light or not. He remembered visiting Kristy in the morgue. He had somehow expected her to look different from all of the other bodies that he had seen on Doc Robin's tables or in his drawers, but she hadn't. She had look like every other body, there was nothing special about her.

"He's gone," Greg swallowed hard, "He's dead."

Greg's grip around his knees tightened, his voice cracking at the end of his statement. His entire body shook in what Nick could only assume was an attempt to hold back tears. In all of the years that he had known Greg, he had seen him go through every emotion possible for humans, but he had never seen him cry. Even after the explosion, the beating, and the horrible court case, he had never shed a single tear, at least not with anyone looking. Now painful sobs ripped their way through his small frame, ignoring all of Greg's attempts to hold them in.

Without comment, or asking for permission, Nick wrapped his arms around Greg, pulling him into a welcoming embrace. He could feel the effects that it was having on Greg almost instantly. His entire body softened, the sobs came out more freely as he allowed his emotions out into the open. In only a matter of moments, Nick soon pulled the younger CSI into his lap as though he were comforting a lover.

He could feel the wetness of Greg's tears soaking through the thin material covering his shoulder, and he welcomed it. the younger CSI's hands creped along the sides of Nick's ribs, as if he wanted more but was afraid to ask. Nick's two warm arms wrapped themselves even tighter around the smaller body, holding him close and safe as Greg allowed the horror of the past few days to escape from his body the only way that it knew how.

* * *

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I'm a little disapointed that no one figured out the pattern in people's names. Oh well, maybe once more chatacters are introduced. (Meaningless characters who appear in one paragraph and then are never heard from again, no more important chatacters.)

Again, I'll try to post the next chapter next week. Please review this time.


	5. Chapter 5

"Anyway, that guy in the computer lab thingy said that he didn't need Jesse's external hard drives anymore," Ted said as soon as Nick and Greg walked out of the lab. Neither of them seemed to think that it was odd that he was waiting for them.

"Archie, and yeah, I already picked them up," Greg motioned to the bag hanging from his left arm. There were two external hard drives on there that Jesse had filled up over time, "They have a bunch of videos on them, probably a lot of the stuff from college that he got turned from those baby-tape things he used to record on to digital files."

It did not escape Nick's notice that a warm smile passed between both Greg and Ted's faces at the memory. For the past hour since Nick had woken up in the supply closet, cradling a sleeping Greg, the younger man's mood had improved greatly.

"_I guess it's really real now. He's dead, nothing is going to change that" Greg had explained when he first awoke, "And I can't be miserable anymore. Jesse and I were friends, great friends, I should be remembering all of the crazy shit that we did, not just what…what I saw when I walked into my apartment."_

"I have some stuff at my place, I could play the files on that hard drive on the TV if you wanted," Nick offered. His mother had gotten a digital video camera a few years back and was always sending him videos of every birthday, christening, baby shower, and holiday that he missed. After realizing that the videos were becoming a rather permanent feature in his life, he had invested in some cables that would allow him to play the home movies on his sizable TV rather than his small computer screen.

"That would be great," Greg said with a smile so wide that Nick worried his face might get stuck like that, "It would almost be like having you meet him."

"You sure you want Cowboy here to see what a dork you are?" Ted raised an eyebrow as If his question had any chance of changing his friend's mind.

"Were?" Nick asked, throwing one arm around Greg's shoulders and pulling him close, "Hate to break it to you, but Greggo here is still a dork."

Nick could have sworn that he felt Greg lean into his embrace, almost placing his head on Nick's strong shoulder, but he ignored it. There was no reason for Greg to have done that, it must have been his imagination. Even if he did allow himself to admit how much Greg meant to him, he knew that he could never allow himself to believe, even for an instant, that Greg would ever want that sort of attention from him. He knew all about evidence, how it only told the truth, but the interpretation of the evidence could always be wrong. If he allowed himself to think that Greg wanted him, he could wrongly interpret evidence of friendship as proof of something more. He would not put his friend in such a circumstance.

It was only a short time before the two former Californians were sitting on his couch while Nick fought with the cables. No matter how carefully he put them away after each use, they always came out of the drawer as a tangled mess. As he worked with the cords and cables, Ted was scanning through the content of the external hard drives using Nick's laptop. Apparently Jesse believed in filming just about everything that he could, including some things that he did not have permission to film.

"At one point, I think that it was his personal goal in life to film Greg jerking off, so he kept going in the bathroom while Greg was taking a shower." He laughed as Greg turned bright red, "I'd always hear screams, then the sound of shampoo bottles being thrown, and Jesse would run out."

"That explains why he kept coming in," Greg rolled his eyes, "Not that that's really a good reason, but…"

"Oh, Greg, you haven't heard the best part," Ted held back a laugh, "One time he went in there and you didn't scream. He came out a little later with a huge smile on his face and never tried to go in again. So I'm guessing that he got what he was looking for."

"There is no way that happened!" Greg protested, "I would have heard him, I would have…delete that file right now!"

"Okay, I have the cords figured out," Nick announced as he offered up the two jacks to be plugged into the computer. Ted quickly pushed them into the correct holes and they were ready to go. The TV came to life with the image of a dirty college apartment.

_A dirty t-shirt was flung over the back of a threadbare couch. Video tapes spilled out from what used to be an organized stack, probably alphabetized knowing Greg. Although Nick had never seen pictures of this place before, it reminded him so much of the frat house where he had spent the majority of his college years. Judging from the look in Greg's eyes, the room clearly brought back pleasant memories for him. _

"_Hello everyone!" A voice from the TV said, "My name is Jesse Cunningham, and I just got a brand new camera. Her name is Jadyn, she was a birthday present from all of my friends put together, meaning that Greg paid for it and everyone else signed the card. So, now it's time for me to test this baby out!" _

_Nick watched as Jesse took the camera on a tour of the apartment, remarking on the various points of interest such as the fine collection of dirty dishes that had been building up in the sink for the past month. He also made special note of the odd stain on the wall that no one knew where it had come from yet everyone swore that it was not there when they had moved in._

"_And here we see the fabled Theodore Finn, chem-master extraordinaire," the now familiar voice said as he panned to where a younger version of Ted was bent over a table eating corn flakes._

"_Excuse me!" a second voice said from behind the camera._

"_Sorry, the fabled Theodore Fin, apprentice to the legendary chem-master extraordinaire, Gregory Hojem Sanders." Jesse laughed as he panned the camera to face a person that Nick could only assume was Greg. He had long hair that dangled just above his shoulders, mostly blonde but the tips were dyed a dark blue that had begun to fade to green. The younger Greg took an overdramatic bow and the camera turned back so that Jesse could continue his tour, including the introduction of two more roommates._

"You thought that my hair styles I had in the lab were wild," Greg said with a laugh, "You haven't seen anything yet!"

Nick smiled, but he couldn't miss spotting a tear drip down Ted's face. He ignored it and focused his attention back on the screen. They watched the rest of the video in silence, Greg sitting between his two friends. Although Nick noticed that Greg was now sitting much closer to him than he was to Ted, he brushed it off without examining it further. All too soon, the video was over and Ted started up a new clip.

"_Jesse Cunningham here," Jesse said, the camera pointed towards his face. He was wearing a Hawaiian shirt that lacked the bright colors. Instead it was a pattern of tan with green leaves and palms. A ridiculous hat sat on his head as he did his best imitation of a British wildlife expert, "Today we are going to study the mating habits of Geekulus Chemus, more commonly known as the chem-geek. This species is known for being very reclusive and meet with very few opportunities to reproduce. Most often, they get these opportunities by luring the female chemistry student into their den by what is known as a 'tutoring session.' Let's have a look."_

_Jesse turned the camera. Greg was leaning over a desk, a girl sitting next to him. Between her hair and her clothes, Nick quickly recognized her as one of the more popular girls in the school. He also recognized Greg's face, he was in full flirt mode. He had seen that same smile on the former tech's face many times, particularly when he had been flirting with Sara._

"_Okay, so this is what the structure looks like," Greg said as he drew something on the paper in front of them, "there are eight hydrocarbons, the carbons form a chain like this, and the hydrogens are hanging off of the ends. Put it all together and you get…"_

"_I don't know," The girl said with a stupid look on her face._

"_You put it in your car," Greg hinted._

"_Oh! Gas!" She smiled and bounce, making her boobs jiggle. _

_Although he had clearly been waiting for that movement, Greg screwed up his face as though he was in pain. "It's in gas"_

"_Water?" The girl asked._

"_Okay, um, let's try a different chemical. This one has one oxygen and two hydrogen's!"_

_The camera panned back around to face Jesse again. He began to talk about how the mating attempt was failing, but _Ted began to talk over the video_._

"I really hope you've found a better way of flirting than playing Name that Chemical Compound," he laughed.

"It's a tried and true method, just works better if the other person has half a brain," Greg snorted, "It also screens out the morons, as you can see."

Nick couldn't help but to laugh as Ted and Greg continued to debate the value of Name that Chemical Compound as a flirting technique. He had to admit that it was a silly game, even if he did enjoy it. It gave Nick a chance to stretch his chemistry knowledge and had given him an excuse to spend more time in lab with Greg. With both of them working in the field, there were always other people around. He missed the private conversations that had taken place in the lab.

The three of them continued to sift through the captured memories for hours. Soon Nick felt as though he had known Jesse. The videos where so open and honest, they chronicled everything from arguments to declarations of love, even footage of a drunken Greg giggling about some chemistry joke. Nick was so caught up in the movies that he didn't even notice that Greg had fallen asleep until Ted pointed it out.

"He's hardly slept at all since it happened," Ted noted, "He's up all night 'cause that's what he's used to, and I know that he doesn't sleep during the day."

Nick nodded, remembering the short nap that Greg had taken in the supply closet, the warmth of holding that smaller frame in his arms. Now Greg was once again sound asleep, leaning heavily on Nick's shoulder and drooling out of the corner of his mouth. Nick knew that he should have been bothered, probably even disgusted, but he wasn't. Not even the feeling of Greg's saliva soaking through the material of his shirt bothered him. It only served to remind Nick of all of the tears that had already soaked into his shoulder earlier that day.

"I'm going to put him in my bed," Nick announced as he began to reposition the younger CSI so that he could pick him up easier, "No sense in waking him up if he hasn't had enough sleep."

After receiving some help from Ted, Nick found himself carrying Greg into his bedroom as though he were a child. Thankfully, Nick's mother had never succeeded to teach him the values of making his bed ever day and the sheets were shoved down to the bottom. Although Greg was light compared to the former football player, Nick knew that he could not have held him in one hand while he fought to free the sheets with the other.

He tucked Greg in under his warm covers and stepped back to examine his work. In all of the years he had known the former lab tech, he had never believed for one moment that he would actually have him in his bed. He had fantasized many times about what Greg's soft hair would look like splayed out across his pillow, or the hills and valleys that the covers would form over his body, but he never believed that his dream would come true. He looked so perfect laying there, as if he belonged.

There were some differences between his fantasy and this reality. Most notably were the facts that Greg was fully clothed in the comfortable sweatpants that he had borrowed from Nick and the fact that Nick would be sleeping on the couch. He was willing to overlook these minor discrepancies and focus on the big picture. Greg was asleep in Nick's bed. He ran his fingers through the younger man's hair once before returning to the living room. It was just as soft as he had always imagined it to be.

"I swear I'll be out of your hair in a bit, but there's something that I want to watch first." Ted said as he double clicked a file on the screen.

Nick sat down on the couch to enjoy the clip as well. Ted's voice had changed when he told Nick about the clip, plus he had been carefully examining the Texan ever since he said it. Although Nick had no idea why, it was clear to him that there was something special about this bit of digital film. For a brief moment, Nick worried that Ted could be playing the footage of Greg in the shower, which would explain why he would not show it while the man in question was in the room, but his fears were quickly put to rest.

_The camera panned across the room for a good establishing shot. Greg and Ted were sitting at the table next to Kevin and Ian, the two roommates that Nick had been introduced to in the previous movies. From what he understood, Greg and Ted had never been close to either of them except to harass them with one of their experiments involving volatile chemicals. _

"_Okay, ready!" Jesse announced from behind the camera._

"_Alright, first victim is…" Ted pulled one piece of paper out of one hat and another piece of paper from another hat, "Kevin! And the question is…What is the worst thing that you have done to someone that you claimed to be friends with?"_

_Kevin told some story that left Nick feeling disappointed. He quickly gathered that the game was something along the lines of truth or dare, except that neither the victim or the one reading the papers had any input on what the question or dare was. Most of the truths involved a funny story, and the dares were always embarrassing. _

Halfway though, Nick began to wonder why Ted had been so insistent on watching this bit of film. There had to be something specific in the clip that Ted wanted him to see, or at least that was what he had assumed. His actions, even now looking over at Nick to insure that he was watching, were suspicious. Nick was just about ready to give up and go into the kitchen for a snack when Greg's name was drawn from the hat.

"_Okay Greg, your question is 'what would your perfect man be like, and if you aren't interested in men, answer anyway.' I'm assuming Jesse wrote that one," the man, either Kevin or Ian, Nick wasn't sure which, read off of the paper._

"_Okay," The younger version of Greg blushed and looked at the camera, "He'd have to be stronger than me, a gentleman with a strong sense of right and wrong. I'd have to feel safe in his arms, knowing that he loves me even though I'm a bit of a freak. He has to be smart, I can't stand stupid people, and a nice body wouldn't hurt either._

"_Hey, don't forget where he has to be from," Jesse prompted, leading Nick to wonder if he had already heard Greg's description of the perfect man before._

"_Yeah, he has to be from Texas, and none of that 'well I was born there' shit either! He has to be a real Texan, he has to have an accent and everything," The redness around Greg's face began to fade as he got more bold, "I want a real cowboy!"_

Nick swallowed hard, glancing over to Ted. The man's previous comment came flooding back to him, "You didn't tell me that he's from Texas….has the accent too." Nick's heart pounded in his chest, but Ted did not seem to notice anything. The video was still playing, but he couldn't focus on it for even a moment. His mind continued to play back all of the recent events. The video, Greg falling asleep on him twice in one day, Greg admitting that Name that Chemical Compound was his prized flirting technique. It was too much to handle at one time, he needed to take It all in. He needed to find a quiet place to think.

"I had better get going," Ted announced as he stood up.

"Oh, um, yeah," Nick blushed, realizing that the movie clip had now ended. Ted gave him an odd smirk, as if he was pleased with Nick's reaction, as though he had set this all up.

"I have to head back home tonight, I have to be back in school on Monday. I teach chemistry, you know. The students would love it if I wasn't there, but I have to crush their hopes and dreams on that matter. Could you look after Greg for me?" Ted asked as he gathered together this things, "I'm not saying that he's weak or anything, but I'd feel better knowing that he has someone here for him."

"Someone from Texas?" Nick raised an eyebrow.

Ted chuckled and clapped a hand on Nick's shoulder before walking out the door. There was now no doubt in Nick's mind, Ted was trying to drop hints, or maybe even go as far as playing matchmaker. He wasn't sure how to respond. Yes, he matched Greg's description of the perfect man, even down to having Greg's preferred accent, but that didn't mean anything. The tape had been made years ago, his idea of the perfect man must have changed over that time. Even if it hadn't changed, it didn't mean that Greg would show any interest in Nick. Kristy had, in many ways, been exactly what Nick had been looking for in a woman. She was skilled in bed, hot, and he could play the hero saving her, but he never would have stayed with her. Even if she hadn't died, his relationship with her would not have lasted more than two months. The spark had not been there between him and Kristy, he didn't know if that spark would be there between him and Greg either.

Nick sighed heavily and sat back down on the couch. He knew better than to allow himself to believe that Greg could be interested in him. He would just find evidence supporting his hopes, not the facts. Greg had played Name that Chemical Compound with him all the time in the lab, he had been flirting with him. To his knowledge, he was the only person that Greg played that game with. It could be proof that he was interested, or it could just be that Nick was the only one who would play it with him. Nick let him get away with flirting in the field, so naturally Greg flirted with him instead of Catherine who still scared him a bit. It wasn't proof that Greg had the least bit of interest in him. Ted's matchmaking was probably entirely unfounded. Even if there was the slightest chance that Ted was right, it would mean an office romance. Those never ended well.

A small sound coming from his bedroom shook Nick from his thoughts. He rushed in, anxious to make sure that Greg was alright. He relaxed when he saw that the younger man was still asleep, sniggled deep into his pillows. Nick felt warmth flood through his heart as he looked down at the sleeping form in front of him. He tried to keep his hands to himself, but his fingers reached out on their own accord and brushed across Greg's hair.

It was as soft and inviting as it had been the first time. He was tempted to continue stroking Greg's soft locks, but the younger man began to stir. The Texan pulled his hand back, not waning to wake him. Greg made a soft sound and snuggled even farther under the covers. He pressed his face deep into the pillow and inhaled deeply. Nick could see his lungs expand as he took in as much of the scent as he could.

"Nick?" he called out in his sleep.

"I'm right here," Nick said quietly, not knowing if the Californian could hear him or not

Greg yawned and his body became still as he fell back into a deep sleep. Nick could not prevent a smile spreading across him. Maybe it was possible that Greg did have some form of feelings for Nick.

* * *

Sorry that I didn't get a chance to update last week. It's the end of school and there are all sorts of things due. But not everything is turned in, the papers are written and graded, the projects are done, and the presentations are given. Now there's nothing left but the finals.

Thank you for reading this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it!


	6. Chapter 6

Warm hands stroked up and down Nick's torso overtop of his soft cotton of the worn shirt that he had fallen asleep in. The hands explored his chest, tracing over the definition in his muscles, glossing over the ripples of his abs. He could not suppress a gasp as a hot mouth overtook his own. A taste he had only dreamed of overtook his senses as a tongue explored his mouth, mapping out every inch. The kiss ended slowly, he could feel the person pulling away, propping themselves up on his chest. He opened his eyes to find Greg straddling his legs, leaning shirtless over him. A wide grin came to Nick's face as he reached up to touch the beautiful creature above him. Greg's skin was soft an inviting, everything that Nick had wished for and more.

Greg's face was now only inches from his own, he could feel the younger man's breath washing over his skin. Shivers shot down his spine as he took a deep breath, taking in the unique scent that he knew so well. As the smell reached his nostrils, Nick's head jerked back in surprise. Greg's hair smelled like sweet cinnamon, not the blend of spice and salt that he had grown to expect. The unexpected smell jolted him out of his comfortable dream and back to the reality that he had hoped to avoid for a little longer.

When Nick opened his eyes, he took in the differences between his dream and the reality. He was still laying on his back in the living room, but Greg was not straddling his legs. In fact, the younger CSI was nowhere to be seen. The sweet cinnamon smell still permeated the air. Now more awake, he recognized it as the scent of cinnamon buns fresh out of the oven. He had only just stood up to investigate when Greg entered the room carrying two plates topped with the cinnamon buns.

"Thanks for letting me crash here," Greg smiled as he sat down next to Nick and placed a plate in front of each of them, "Sorry for passing out on your shoulder like that."

"No problem," Nick blinked and tried to keep his eyes down. He chewed on the bottom of his lip, unsure what to say. The dream still floated through his head. He could still feel the warmth of Greg's hands sliding over his skin, the look of lust in his eye. He fought to keep his breath even, but Greg was sitting so close. The unique scent that was purely Greg was now overpowering the scent of the cinnamon breakfast in front of him, still sending blood rushing between his legs.

"So, that must have been some good dream you were having," Greg chuckled as he took a bite of the sugary breakfast, "I could hear you moaning all the way in the kitchen."

Nick's face blushed a deep red as he tried not to choke. He looked at Greg in astonishment, he couldn't believe that the man had just said it. If he had been in that situation, he would have ignored that it had ever happened. At most he would harass the other man about it a few days later, but not right after they woke up with a painful erection still throbbing for release.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything," Greg said quickly, realizing the reaction that he had caused.

"Yeah, you should have," Nick agreed.

A long awkward silence filled the room as they continued eating their breakfast. Nick felt somewhat guilty about having snapped at Greg, but he was not comfortable discussing the dream with him. Even if the dream had not centered on the amazing man sitting next to him, he still would not want to talk about it with another person. Silence was a much better option for him, but it appeared that Greg was not satisfied. He would start to say something only to stop before actually spitting out the first word.

"It's just that some of the things you said," Greg finally said in a rush if words before Nick interrupted him.

"Greg…" His tone was firm, but he was careful not to sound too angry. It wasn't Greg's fault that he had been the star of the dream. He hoped that it would be enough to detour his friend from continuing the conversation, but Greg was not easily silenced.

"You were moaning my name."

Nick did not respond, unsure of what he could say. He was not ready for Greg to know about his attraction, he didn't know if he would ever be ready. Greg was never supposed to find out about it, no one was. He could hardly deal with the attraction himself. His entire body tensed. Even if Greg was not nearly as straight as Nick had once assumed, it did not mean that he wanted a relationship. They were co-workers, office relationships never worked.

"It's okay, you know," Greg said after a long pause, "Dreams are strange, they don't always mean anything. But even if it did mean something, I'm still okay with it. Not saying that something will happen because of it, you know, unless you want it to, but…"

"Greg, the dream didn't mean shit," Nick insisted, finishing off the last bite of his cinnamon bun without tasting it.

Although he did not turn around to get a better look, Nick could see the younger man's reaction out of the corner of his eye. Greg looked as though all of the air had gone out of him. There was now no doubt in Nick's mind, Greg was interested in him. The amazing man that he had spent the last few years longing for wanted him, so why wasn't he happy? Even though he knew that they could never carry though with any of his wishes, he figured that knowing that Greg cared about him should still make him happy. Somehow, it made him feel worse.

"I'll wash these up and head out," Greg said as he grabbed the now empty plate in front of Nick. He hurried off to the kitchen, leaving the Texan alone with his thoughts and the fact that he had just hurt the person that he cared about the most.

"Where are you going?" Nick asked, chasing away the thoughts.

"Ted went home, right? The swing shift CSI's packed up a bag for me. I'm going to pick it up and look for a place to stay tonight," Greg answered from the kitchen.

"You could stay here."

Greg poked his head back into the living room. His eyes scanned over Nick as if to see if the offer was genuine. "I didn't think that you'd want me here."

"Why not?" Nick shrugged as if he did not understand what had just happened between them.

"The dream conversation didn't help any, but mostly you don't have a spare bed," Greg looked over Nick's face, "So, that's how it is. Ted told you to take care of me."

"Yes, but I'd want you here anyway," Nick smiled back at Greg. He knew that he was sending out strong messages that he wanted Greg's love and affection, despite what he had said only minutes before. He knew that he was just confusing the young man, but he wasn't sure what he wanted either.

"I don't think that would be a good idea," Greg said after a long pause, "I…lied to you."

The younger CSI tried to turn and go back in the kitchen alone, but Nick followed him. He pinned him in a corner, forcing Greg to look at him. Their faces were only inches apart and Nick fought to control himself. Greg had already heard him moaning out his name in his sleep, he had managed to write that off as a meaningless dream, but he couldn't downplay the kiss that he wanted so bad to place on his friend's lips.

"When I said that I didn't care if the dream meant anything or not," Greg clarified, looking for some escape from the corner that he was pinned in, "That was a lie, it does matter,"

"What?" Nick asked after a short pause.

Greg used the momentary confusion to escape from the corner, but he stayed close to Nick. He wanted to have a clear path from his current location to the door when he told the Texan that he wanted him. Sure, Nick was alright with other people being gay, or with Greg screwing men, but that didn't mean that he would be okay with being one of his fantasies.

"It would matter to me a lot, if you were interested in me, you know, 'like that" Greg emphasized his words to insure that Nick understood what he was saying, "And you already know that I'm gay, you took it better than I thought you would. Being from Texas and all, I thought that you'd freak out. I don't know why, I've seen you work with gay guys in cases and all, you never had a problem with them, so I don't know why I thought that you'd have a problem with me."

"Greg, you're babbling,"

"I'm nervous!" A blush tinted Greg's cheeks, thought nick wasn't sure if it was due to what he was trying to say or if it was because he was embarrassed to be caught babbling, "All that I'm saying is that it would matter to me if you were interested in me or not, but you aren't so it doesn't matter. Anyway, moral of the story is that I should stay with Catherine tonight."

"Really?" Nick leaned back on the counter, "I think that you should stay here, with me."

"You think you know what is best for me?" Greg snapped, surprising Nick with his anger, "You don't know jack shit about me, Nick, how can you possibly know what is best for me?"

Nick eyes narrowed. He didn't know how Greg had twisted his offer into that, probably a reaction to all of the stress. He knew that he should let the conversation drop, apologize and move on, but he couldn't. "So you know what is good for you, huh? Does that include having unprotected sex with drug addicts?"

"Don't you dare bring Jesse into this!" Greg shouted, his anger increasing exponentially with the mentioning of his friend.

"You don't know what he was on, much less what he did when he was high. He could have had AIDS!"

"Why would you care if he did?" Greg crossed his arms tightly, looking Nick straight in the eyes, "You never even met him."

"You're right, I don't give a shit about him, but you had unprotected sex with him! I don't like it when my friends die."

"We get tested every six months for our job, right? My next test is in a few months, I'll show you the results if you are so worried about it."

"And what are you going to do if the test comes back positive?"

"I'll take precautions. I would say 'take precautions and inform all of my recent sexual partners,' just like the little book says, but it's a little late for that since he's already dead!" Greg's fingers dug into his arm as he fought to keep down every emotion except rage.

"Don't even say shit like that, man!" Nick shot back.

"Why do you care?"

"Because I love you!" Nick screamed back.

Both men froze, afraid to even breath. Nick's mind scrambled to come up with a plausible excuse, some way to hide what he said. Greg's eyes were locked on his face, waiting for him to continue with bated breath.

"You're like a brother to me," Nick said after a pause. His voice was much calmer, colder. "I've seen people dying of AIDS, I don't want to see my friends go through that."

Nick bit down on his lip, watching Greg closely to see if he bought the Texan's quick cover up. The Californian seemed smaller now, as if Nick's statement had wounded him physically. He knew full well that he had wounded him emotionally.

"All I'm saying is that you know better than that."

"Know better than what? To comfort a friend in need?" Greg's voice no longer held the anger, but only bitter disappointment, "What was I supposed to do, let him suffer? I couldn't do that, Nicky. He needed me and I wasn't going to abandon him.

"If he was so upset then yes, you should have comforted him, not screwed him into the mattress." Nick stepped forward, causing Greg to take a step back..

"I wasn't 'screwing him into the mattress,' like you so delicately put it. We didn't mean for it to happen, it just did, and I am not going to feel guilty about that," Greg turned to leave, but Nick lashed out and grabbed him by the arm. He spun the younger man around, hold him tightly on the upper part of Greg's arm. He was certainly leaving burses, but he was beyond the point of caring.

"Shit like that doesn't just happen, Greg! You could have at least used a damn condom! I know you haven't been getting much lately, but damn it man, be prepared!"

"It's none of your business!" Greg screamed as he struggled to break free of the larger man's grip, "You aren't my mother Nicky, you aren't my boyfriend or my lover either. You are my friend, though I'm starting wonder about that."

"Why, because I actually care about what happens to you? Listen to yourself!"

"No, Nicky, you listen to yourself. What are you upset about anyway? Is it because I had unprotected sex? Because you think I'm stupid enough to have skipped the condom if I wasn't one hundred percent sure that Jesse was clean? Or was it because I had sex with Jesse instead of you?"

Nick's grip on Greg's arm vanished. The two men were left standing, facing each other as Nick's brain scrambled to find the right words, whatever phrases he could use to convince the man he loved that he felt nothing for him.

"Thank you for letting me spend the night, I promise that I won't bother you again," Greg said calmly before walking out the door.

Nick could only stand in his kitchen as he heard the sound of a car starting up and driving away. Greg was gone, Nick was alone.

Okay, no more guarantees about when I'm updating. I'll do it when I get around to it, and I really am sorry for taking this long. Believe it or not, I actually have the entire story written, just not typed up. I shoved the notebook in my suitcase when I was leaving college, and I just found it. I swear that I'll try to get to it quicker this time.


	7. Chapter 7

Nick walked into the break room and instantly felt a pair of eyes burning into his skin. Catherine sat on the couch with her arms crossed tightly across her chest. Nick's mind flashed back over the past week or so, trying to remember if he had offended her somehow. Nothing came to mind, but he had clearly done something. She was not the sort to act like that for no reason. Part of him wanted to ask her, but he understood what a terrible idea that would be. She, like his sisters, held the belief that if someone had to ask what they had done wrong, they didn't deserve to know. He had learned from his sisters a long time ago that his best bet was not to say something until she gave him some hints on what was bothering her.

Without any comment, he retreated from the break room and made his way to the locker room. The cool air that hit his skin as he opened the door was refreshing, but he hardly noticed it. He had brought some spare clothes to put in his locker. He made a point to always have two full sets of clothing in there at all times in case something happened to his clothes, which often happened. He had worn one of the spare shirts two days ago after an undetermined substance, which Hodges later identified as a mixture of dishwashing soap and mineral oil, had splashed on him. He was thankful for the simple mess, most times he had to throw out the clothes that got dirty while he was on a scene, there were just so many smells that could never come out of fabric.

Nick already had his locker open before he realized that he was not alone in the room. Greg was sitting on the bench, his head hanging down. He made no attempt to acknowledge Nick's presence, which the Texan found very strange from the normally friendly man. He expected Greg to be angry with him, the fight that they had had the previous night was not the sort that could be forgotten about so quickly. Realization washed over him. That was why Catherine was so angry with him. Greg had spent the night at her house, he must have told her everything that had happened between them. If he didn't put a stop to it, it would spread around the lab in record time and soon everyone would be mad at him.

"Listen, Greg," Nick swallowed hard, unsure of where to go from there, "about last night…"

Nick could have kicked himself. He sounded like some college kid trying to make amends to some drunken one night stand the morning after before he kicked them out. He hated sounding like that, even to the few drunken one night stands that he had kicked out of his house. With Greg it was even worse. He felt like he owed him a better conversation, but nothing came to him.

"Save it," Greg interrupted, "I don't want to talk about this."

Greg stood up to leave but Nick blocked him in. All of the hairs stood up on the back of his neck as they stood at an impasse. The smaller man glanced around for an escape route, but he couldn't find any.

"Okay, fine, Nick Stokes says that we should talk. Since Mr. Stokes is so perfect, I should sit down and listen. Shame I don't have pen and paper or I'd take notes." Greg plopped himself down on the wooden bench, staring defiantly up at the older CSI.

"Damn it, Greg!" Nick leaned heavily on the lockers, unsure what his next move should be, "I just want to apologize for being such an ass last night."

"Then do it"

"I'm sorry," Nick started, not sure what else to do, "It wasn't my place to say anything. You're sex life isn't any of my business. I should have just kept my mouth shut, but you shouldn't be taking risks like this!"

Greg threw his hands in the air. Nick had known that he should have stopped talking, but he hadn't been able to. His mouth had continued moving on it's own accord.

"What I mean is…I care about you, okay? The thought of you getting something dangerous scares me." Nick bit his lip, unsure if he should attempt to continue. Greg seemed to be taking a moment to think over his response.

"Jesse had tests in rehab, drug tests mostly, but he also had HIV tests, starting the first week that he went in. All of his tests came back clean. I wouldn't have unprotected sex with him if it was dangerous," Greg's voice was calm and measured, but Nick understood the fury that laid just beneath the surface, "I know better than that. Everyone in the lab knows that there weren't any condoms involved, but so far the only one who has come to give me the safe sex speech is you."

Nick looked away. He knew that his feelings towards the former labtech were different from everyone else's. He understood all of the reasons that this could be dangerous for him. The one thing that he had never expected was that his feelings, kept secret, could cause a fight with the man he had slowly been falling in love with. He had thought that they could only cause that much trouble if people knew the secrets.

"There's one part of the fight last night that you didn't say anything about," Greg said after a long silence, "The very end, right before I left."

"We were both upset" Nick shrugged, "We both said things that we didn't mean near the end."

"Oh," Greg sighed heavily, all of his anger gone, "Probably best not to dwell on it then.

Nick clapped his hand on his friend's shoulder, blatantly ignoring the fact that Greg wanted him as much as he wanted Greg. He knew how much his feigned ignorance would hurt the younger man, but he refused to acknowledge that part of the fight. He wouldn't be able to keep his act together if he did. Jealousy would pour out of him for everyone to see. He honestly could hardly remember why it would be so terrible if Greg did find out about his feelings. All of his reasoning faded when he was faced with that beautiful creature currently in front of him.

They walked to the break room together, Greg's eyes locked on the floor and Nick pretending not to notice. As they walked into the break room he felt Catherine's eyes lock on him again. He still didn't know how much Greg had told her, but it was obvious who Judge Willows had decided was guilty. Nick had almost worked up enough courage to confront her when the door swung open.

"Catherine, you and Nick have a DB behind the strip, David said that she's been there a while," Grissom said as he handed Catherine a slip of paper with the address, "Greg, you are with be on a B&E in Henderson."

"This is going to be a long night," Nick muttered under his breath. He was not looking forward to spending time with Catherine. He knew from first hand experience just how protective she could be when one of her "children" was in danger. He knew that he would be put through some sort of punishment before he'd be forgiven.

Knowing what was in store for him, he considered the walk to the car surprisingly peaceful. She didn't say a word to him until they reached the Tahoe and Catherine announced that she was driving. It was well known to all of the CSI's that Nick hated letting other people drive when he was in the car. They generally conceded and let him drive. The fact that Catherine demanded the keys was not lost on him. He knew that it meant that he would be interrogated on the way over. He was essentially trapped, unless he planned on jumping out of a car speeding down the main roads.

"Why did you do it?" Catherine asked as soon as they were out of the parking lot.

"Why'd I do what?" Nick groaned. The car was going slow enough that he could jump out without a problem, but he'd have to tuck and roll when he hit the ground. He'd only get hit by another car, "I've done a lot of dumb shit of the past twenty four hours, you'll have to be more specific."

"Greg, what did you do to Greg? He showed up at my house, his hands were shaking but he wouldn't tell me what was wrong. Archie said that he was happy when he went home with you. Obviously something happened in between."

Nick lowered his head, unable to face Catherine when he talked. He tried to think of ways to start the conversation, to tell her what had happened, but his mind was blank. He had yelled at him for having sex, for comforting a friend who was now dead.

"I said some stuff that I shouldn't have," Nick finally said, "Stuff about him and Jesse. I apologies today, but…I think that it just made it worse."

"You're the reason he walked into the break room looking someone just kicked his puppy."

"During the first fight he said…he said that I only cared because I was jealous of Jesse." Nick's face turned bright red as he managed to spit it out. He hoped that Catherine would laugh and claim that there was no chance that Nick would want Greg like that, but she didn't.

"Are you?"

"What?" Nick blushed deeper. It was a good thing that Catherine was driving instead of him. He would have crashed directly into oncoming traffic.

"Are you jelous?" She shrugged as though accusing two male co-workers of being in love was normal, "No one is going to be upset if you are."

Nick sighed heavily, trying to think of what to say. He was nowhere near ready to talk to Greg, but maybe he could tell Catherine about it. She already claimed that she wouldn't be upset, and it might help to have someone to talk to. She understood what it was like to have to hide feelings for someone. She could help him. AT the same time, he had never told anyone about his sexuality, why start now? Would she be as okay with it as she pretended to be?

"You obviously are," She said after a while, "If you weren't' jealous then you would have denied it right away."

"Okay, fine," Nick shook his head, "Greg is…he's amazing. He's funny and sweet, but he can be serious when he needs to be. He's so smart, god Catherine, he's so great. I might be in love with him, I probably am, but I can't tell him. Not yet anyway, but maybe…"

"Why are you telling me this?" Catherine asked as he pulled up to the crime scene, "You should be telling this to Greg."

"I can't" Nick insisted. He tried to explain his worries about what would happen at work, but she wouldn't even let him start.

"Nicky, what is more important? Do you think that it's worth the chance?" Catherine opened the door and stepped out. She turned back to Face Nick one last time before ending the conversation, "Think about it, ask Greg to go over to your place after you have the answer."

Nick shook his head and stepped out of the truck. The crime scene was behind one of the strip clubs and a restaurant. The victim, a prostitute by the looks of it, had been stashed between the two dumpsters. The restaurant and the strip club had both assumed that the other's dumpster was the source of the smell. It was only once the trash truck came to empty the dumpsters that they found the body. Both the strip club owner and the restaurant owner claimed that the longest she could have been there was a week, but she smelled like she had been there longer.

Due to the type of scene, it was easy for him to avoid Catherine the entire night. She spoke to the strip club owner and looked through his trash. Nick took the restaurant owner and his trash. Neither owner recognized the girl, but Nick doubted that they would admit it if they did. There was a good chance that they would never be able to identify the girl or the person who killed her. He usually tried not to think about it, but it was easier thinking about what Catherine had said.

"I've got everything I can," Catherine announced, "Are you about done?"

"Not much here to collect," Nick stood up and dusted off his pants, "This is a dump site, not the primary crime scene."

The silence that filled the car on the way back was both a blessing and a curse. He didn't have to deal with Catherine harassing him, but it also left his mind free to go over what she had said. Would it be worth the risk to be with Greg? He honestly didn't know the answer. His heart insisted that it was. Greg was his shot at being happy. His head told him that it wasn't, dating Greg could land both of them in trouble. He doubted that Grissom would pull anything, but Eckley would throw the book at them. Assuming that they still had jobs, the team, or what was left of it, would be split up again. He and Greg would not be allowed to work together anymore. Even if they did have a relationship, that would be the end of it.

By the time he walked into the lab he was hoping for anything to take his mind off of Catherine's words. He knew from experience that there was not enough evidence to come anywhere close to a conviction unless they found the primary crime scene. Even with the new scene, there was only a slim chance that they could solve it. The minor amount of evidence that they had at the moment would only take an hour to process before he would be left along with his thoughts again.

"Mr. Stokes!" The receptionist called out as they walked through the lobby, "There is someone here to see you."

"Thanks," Nick waved to her before turning to Catherine, "I'll catch up with you when I'm done."

Nick was ready to jump for joy at the distraction. He had no idea who would want to see him, all of his friend worked in the lab. His family was never the type to drop in unannounced and his old friends would have called to ask him which hotels to stay at.

When he turned the corner to where the receptionist had said that his visitor was waiting, he was greatly surprised. He recognized the girl sitting on the chair as Isabel Benson. The first time he had seen her, she had been strong and confident. Now she sat with her legs pulled up to her chest, a manila folder clutched between. Even from a distance, Nick could see tear tracks running down her cheeks. A strong bruise stood out on her arm, approximately the size of a man's hand, but she showed no other signs of abuse.

"Hello," Nick came and crouched down in front of her so that they were eye to eye.

"Hey," She smiled back, but it was a forced smile and she didn't meet his gaze, "Is Greg still in trouble?"

"No, he's been cleared," Nick assured her. He thought that the good news would perk her up, but she did not have much of a reaction.

"I told you he didn't do it."

"I never thought he did," Nick nodded, waiting to hear the rest of the story.

"Greg's a good guy, he wouldn't hurt anyone. He keeps me safe."

Nick moved over to another seat, sitting so that he was no longer facing her head on. It was less likely to be perceived as intimidating and he had a feeling that he could get more information out of her if he was willing to wait. She clearly knew more than she was letting on.

"There's this creepy guy in our building, he's dating one of the girls. I don't like the way that this guy looks at me." Isabel scrunched up her face, "Greg told me to stay away from him and said that I shouldn't be alone in my apartment when he's around."

"Yeah, Greg's a good guy like that." Nick smiled.

"Do they know who killed Jesse?" Isabel asked, fingering the folder on her lap.

"No, not yet. They are still looking though," Nick shook his head, then turned to look at her, "You don't have any information about the case, do you? Did anyone have a problem with Greg?"

"I don't know anything," Isabel insisted. She stood up quickly and was ready to rush out of the lab. The folder that was closed on her lap fell, all of the papers inside spilling out.

Isabel lunged forward, trying to gather them all up. Nick bent down to help her, picking up one of the papers. Unable to help his curiosity, he turned it over. The Texan's jaw dropped. Isabel gasped and tried to grab the paper back, but it was too late.

"Give it back!" She screeched, "You can't go through my stuff like that! You don't have a warrant!"

"It wasn't a search, everything in that folder spilled out onto the floor, the paper was in plain sight. Now, little missy, how about you sit back down in that chair and tell me why you have a picture of your bathroom covered in blood."

"It wouldn't hold up in court if you questioned me out here, not to mention there is no child advocate present," Isabel crossed her arms across her chest, pinning the folder to her body, "I watch a lot of the forensic shows, Greg tells me when they make mistakes, things that wouldn't work in real life."

"Isabel, you know that I have to take you back to be questioned, right?"

"I know," She looked down at the floor, "I have to do a lot of explaining."

"Yes, you do," Nick clapped a hand on her shoulder.

"I took the pictures that night, just as soon as I found out what happened. My dad cleaned it up, but he didn't use bleach, so the luminal should show everything. Greg told me about that stuff," Isabel swallowed hard, handing Nick the rest of the folder with the printed off pictures in it, "I also have the clothes he wore when he did it. He threw them out, but I got them out of the trash and hid them.. I'm not going to get in trouble, am I?"

"No, don't worry about that. You aren't in any trouble at all," Nick assured her, trying to calm the excitement in his body. They were going to catch Jesse's killer.


	8. Chapter 8

Nick hurried through the halls, searching for Greg. It would only be maybe two hours before everyone in the lab knew, even less time until Greg heard about it. He knew that the former lab tech would be thrilled upon hearing that there was a new lead in Jesse's case, but he would be heartbroken when he saw Isabel behind the glass of the interrogation room. If Nick got to him first, he could soften the blow.

As he passed by the break room, he spotted Greg sitting at the table. Papers were spread out in front of him and he held a phone to his ear. He looked exhausted, resting his head on his hand. Nick paused for a moment to take in the sight before he stepped in. Greg looked up at him for a moment before continuing his conversation.

"Yeah, I think that would be best. Burial is expensive and I think we'd be the only two at the funeral," he paused a bit for the other person to talk, "He has friends in New York, but I can't get out there and…yeah, I doubt that any of his friends where would be able to make it out here."

Nick took a step farther into the room, not wanting to interrupt his friend. He took a seat close enough that Greg would realize that he wanted to speak with him, but not close enough that he would be interrupting. He listen to Greg make the funeral arrangements for his friend. By the time he hung up the phone, he looked drained.

"That was Ted," he said as if there was any doubt, "The two of us are going to California soon to scatter Jesse's ashes, probably in LA"

Nick nodded, not sure if he should tell Greg about Isabel or to wait. He looked fragile at the moment, Nick did not want to cause further injury, but h knew that Greg would hear the news soon enough from someone. That someone wouldn't know about the little girl that Greg had tutored in chemistry. They would only see her as this thirteen year old who had hidden evidence. She wouldn't be well liked by to many people in the lab. They wouldn't care how scared she was.

It's intrusive," Greg said after a long pause, "Being investigated I mean. You went through all of my stuff in my dresser, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did," Nick admitted, thinking back on he first part of the investigation before they knew whose apartment it was. He had rooted through is best friend's porn collection and commented on the varying tastes.

"I'm glad it was you instead of Catherine," Greg chuckled, "I just wish that thing would go back to normal. Archie won't look me in the eye, people are talking about me, but they aren't talking too me. They all know what Jesse and I did, but they don't say anything."

Nick watched his friend shrink in front of him, all of the stress was pile on top of him. His bottom lip began to tremble and Nick couldn't help it anymore. He leaned in and captured the younger man in his arms. He could feel the warmth of Greg's body through their two shirts, ignoring the heavy sobs that raced through that body.

"I was there, all of this happened with Kristy," Nick pulled far enough back to look Greg in the eye, "I know what it's like."

"No one knew I was gay," Greg said softly, pointing out the major difference between the two cases.

"You think that is why they are avoiding you?"

Greg nodded, moving forward and pressing his face into Nick's shoulder. He took a deep breath, taking in Nick's scent as the older man comforted him.

"Greggo, within the first week of working here, every new lab tech, detective, or CSI has asked me if you were gay. It doesn't come as a surprise to anyone, okay?" Nick smoothed his friend's hair, "If anything, they feel stupid because they've spent so much time around you and didn't even realize that you liked guys."

"I didn't want them to know. I've never come out to anyone before, not even Jesse and Ted. I mean, they've known for years, but I never actually told them. I've never had a real boyfriend because it meant that I'd have to tell people."

"Why? Why did you hide it so long?" Nick asked, trying not to think about the feel of Greg's skin beneath the thin shirt, or how his muscles moved. Greg's scent was so strong and so welcoming that it took all of Nick's strength not to pull Greg into a kiss.

"I'm weird enough!" Greg pulled back far enough to look Nick in the face, "I like Marilyn Manson, I love supermodels even though I'm gay, I surf, collect coins, listen to loud music, scuba dive, and drive people to the brink of insanity. I'm weird and I know it. I don't need anything else."

Nick felt a warm smile wash across his face. He reached out and brushed his fingers across Greg's cheek, wiping away a tear that Greg had not realized was still there. The younger man looked up, his eyes meeting Nick's. The Texan felt his heart race. He could almost feel Greg's lips on his own. Both of their breathing grew heavy as lust filled Greg's eyes. It would be so easy for Nick to lean forward, tilting Greg's head back. Their lips would meet in a passionate kiss that would say more than words ever could, but Nick did not lean forward. Their lips did not meet and no messages were exchanged. Instead, Nick swallowed hard and broke the eye contact.

"Okay, you might be a little strange, but that's normal for here," Nick flashed Greg and embarrasses smile, "No one thinks anything about you being gay."

"Except you," Greg said so quietly that Nick almost missed it.

"What?" Nick's eyes widened, pulling farther away from Greg. How could he accuse Nick of being homophobic when he had his arms wrapped around a gay man?

"Forget it," Greg sighed, standing up and pulling himself away from Nick's grasp. "Archie stepped in a while ago and said that there was a break in Jesse's case. I'm going to find out what it was."

"Greg!" Nick called out to his friend before he left the room, "Wait."

Nick sprang up from his chair and chased Greg down. He caught up with him in the hallway between the AV lab and the DNA/Trace lab. He lunged forward, capturing Greg's hand. The former tech spun around and yanked his hand free of Nick's grip. The Texan was stunned for a moment, unsure of what to do. He still had a message to deliver, but Greg did not look like he was in the mood to listen to him.

"You cant just keep grabbing me or trapping me in some corner!" Greg shouted, drawing attention from the entire lab, "You had your chance to talk, now leave me alone!"

"It's about the case, about Jesse," Nick said quietly, trying not to blush and run away.

"Archie already told me about it, some girl came in with pictures."

"It was Isabel!" Nick blurted out, "Isabel came in with pictures of a bloody bathroom,"

"She has a key," Greg said quietly, as if he wasn't attached to reality anymore, "I gave it to her two months ago, I forgot about it. He must have taken it, that's why there was no forced entry."

"She was talking about some creepy guy in the apartment building," Nick prompted, hoping to get the full story from Greg."

"Do you remember that case you worked maybe six months ago?" Greg asked quietly, "A thirteen year old girl found raped and murdered when her mother got home from work."

"Yeah, I remember that," Nick looked away, the details of the case flooding back to him. He had had a suspect, but there was not enough evidence to charge him.

"So you remember Leroy Manatove," Greg pressed.

"Hell yeah," Nick sneered. Leroy Manatove was a convicted child molester who lived only a couple of blocks from the victim. The crime had matched his former MO, needless to say, he was Nick's suspect.

"I was helping Isabel with some chemistry and she said something about the guy in the hall, how she looked at him. I saw him and he looked familiar. He was leaning on the doorframe and after he left I lifted the prints off of the door. I ran them through AFIS, it was him," Greg swallowed, "Isabel is in her early teens, lives with a single parent who gets home from work late."

"She fits his profile," Nick nodded, remembering back to what he had read of Leroy's previous conviction.

"I didn't tell her much about him, I didn't want to scare her. I told her to stay away from him. I gave her the key, but she never used it. I told her to go to my apartment if she ever she didn't feel safe in her place. I told her to trust her instinct," Greg bit his lip, "If I hadn't given her the key…"

"Then there's a good chance that Leroy would have made his move," Nick reached out, placing a hand on Greg's shoulder. "You saved that girl's life."

"And cost Jesse his,"

"You couldn't have known that,"

Greg shook his head and walked off, leaving Nick standing in the hallway alone. The Texan sighed heavily and leaned against the glass wall of the AV lab. Every conversation that he had with Greg led to the younger man walking away in a bad mood. He wasn't even sure why Greg was upset with him most of the time. He had tried to be supportive of his friend, but all of his efforts backfired.

A loud tap to the glass behind his head startled Nick. He spun around to see Archie watching him with his arms crossed and a look on his face that told Nick that the tech had something to show him. While he had dumped all sorts of footage on the AV lab's desk for his case, neither he nor Catherine had expected to get any actual results. Still, he quickly ducked into the soundproof booth to see what Archie had for him.

"You get through that surveillance footage?" Nick asked as the tech took a seat facing away from his beloved computer.

"Scanned over a hundred hours of footage and the most interesting thing was a strange looking dog peeing on a corner. No sign of your suspect or anyone looking suspicious."

"Okay, thanks," Nick moved to leave, but a motion of the lab tech's hand made him pause.

"That isn't what I wanted to talk to you about," Archie said, motioning Nick towards one of the empty computer chairs.

Nick took a seat, suspecting that he would be there for a good while. The serious look on the tech's face said that whatever was going on had been bothering him for a while. Archie was not the sort of person to make a big deal out of something small. Whatever it was, it was important.

"Greg has been out of the lab for a couple of years now, off playing in the field with you guys. But as far as most of us lab rats are concerned, he's still one of us," Archie said with an even tone, "What happened between you two?"

"I don't know, he keeps flipping out of me," Nick sighed heavily. He was at the end of his rope and he doubted that Archie would be able to help him any, "I tried talking to him about it…"

"No you didn't," Archie corrected. He spun his chair around to face his computer and hit a few keys, "Between the times when you CSIs dump anywhere from one to four hundred hours to video on my desk, or hand me a computer to search through, I have a lot of free time. Did you know that they put cameras in the locker room. It sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen if you ask me, but they claim that it's to prevent harassment."

"You hacked into the surveillance feed?" Nick asked as he saw the footage from the locker room come up.

"Hey, I don't watch people change clothes or anything," Archie raised his hands to defend himself, "I saw Greg go in and I was worried. I figured that I'd keep an eye on him."

"So you saw our fight," Nick sighed.

"And heard. Department is worried about verbal sexual harassment too, so they put in audio as well as visual surveillance." Archie noted as he pointed to the volume indicator, currently set to mute.

"You have a point to all this?" Nick asked, quickly getting annoyed.

"Yeah, Greg tried to talk to you about what was actually wrong, but you wouldn't let him."

"I'm the one who apologized to him, I started the conversation, what do you mean I wont talk to him?" Nick crossed his arms. He did not like being accused of being a bad friend, particularly when the person involved meant so much to him.

"He's gay, he's scared. You talked to him about that, sort of. But he's also in love," Archie said as though he was stating a known fact, "He's been interested in this guy for a long time now, but he didn't think that he had a shot. Now this guy knows that Greg is gay, he has gone all bi-polar on him. Sometimes he acts like he wants Greg, but whenever Greg approaches the topic, the guy back tracks so fast he almost falls over."

"So, some guy is yanking him around, that's not reason for him to get grumpy with me!" Nick's eyes narrowed, both with anger and with some jealousy. He wasn't surprised to find out that Greg had his sights set on some other guy, but he was mad that Archie knew about it and he didn't.

"Yes, it is," Archie sighed, tapping a few keys and bringing up a picture on the computer.

The picture was a still frame from the surveillance feed in the locker room. It was from the fight, but anyone who hadn't seen the argument never would have guessed it. Their bodies were so close, Greg was leaning in. Nick's arms looked like they were reaching up to embrace him. If it had been any other two people, Nick would have said that they were about to kiss. Back in the locker room, he knew that it would have been so easy to kiss Greg. He had wanted it, almost needed it, but he had resisted. He had thought that he had done a good job of hiding his desires, but here was proof to the contrary. Now he wished that the had kissed him. Maybe if he had, they wouldn't be fighting, if Archie was to be believed.

"You're trying to say that Greg wants me?" Nick asked, honestly not sure what to make of the situation.

"Yeah, that's part of it," Archie shrugged, taking the picture off of the monitor, " But what I think is even more interesting is that you want him."

Okay, good job Archie! Someone had to do something. Anyway, I hope that you guys enjoyed that. Right now, I have a four graduate level classes (two of which have WAY too much work) and one graduate level class. Needless to say, I'm swamped. Plus I'm also working on another fanfic for Harry Potter. All put together, that translates to updates coming slowly. I'll try to decrease the wait as best I can.


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